By Kevin Buckland
TOKYO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average
sank on Wednesday amid heavy selling of big tech names including
Nintendo and SoftBank Group following disappointing financial
results, erasing any feel-good factor from a rally on Wall
Street overnight.
Startup investor SoftBank Group tumbled 6.3% after
slumping to a quarterly loss, while video-game maker Nintendo plunged 7.5% after trimming its profit forecast.
Electronics maker Sharp Corp plummeted 10.4% to be
the Nikkei's biggest decliner following its own earnings miss.
The Nikkei lost 0.6% to 27,531.98 as of 0200 GMT,
reversing a small advance at the open after strong gains for all
of the big three U.S. stock indexes. That erased earnings-fueled
gains from the start of the week, taking it back to the 27,500
level it has fluctuated around for most of the past two weeks.
SoftBank and Nintendo contributed about 103 points to the
Nikkei's 155-point retreat. Uniqlo store operator Fast Retailing shaved another 36 points from the benchmark index with
its 1.5% decline, falling from the seven-week high touched in
the previous session following a steep three-week rally.
Meanwhile, the broader Topix slipped 0.1% to
1,982.02, after earlier rising to 1,991.49 for the first time
since Dec. 1.
"The topside had gotten heavy" for the Nikkei after straying
above 27,500, Nomura strategist Maki Sawada said on a call with
reporters.
"At the same time, the bottom is firm, so it's hard to think
that there would be a big decline from here."
Winners and losers were fairly evenly split on the Nikkei,
with 115 of its 225 components rising versus 104 that fell, with
six flat.
Consumer cyclicals was the worst performing sector, sliding
0.9%, followed by a 0.5% decline for tech.
Energy though was firmly higher, jumping 1.5% amid a surge
in crude oil prices. Financial results also produced some standout winners.
Electrical equipment manufacturer GS Yuasa was the
Nikkei's best performer, up 6.6%, followed by Mitsubishi
Chemical Group and drugmaker Kyowa Kirin ,
which rallied 6.0% and 5.9%, respectively.
(Editing by Uttaresh.V)
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