By Sam Byford
TOKYO, Oct 7 (Reuters) – Japanese tech stocks fell on Friday, with Sharp Corp 6753.T and others hit by concerns about the industry outlook after warning signs from overseas heavyweights Advanced Micro Devices AMD.O and Samsung Electronics 005930.KS.
Travel-related shares — spanning airlines, railroad operators, and department stores — were boosted ahead of next week’s border re-opening to tourists.
Both AMD and Samsung Electronics issued earnings guidance that was worse than expected, sharpening concerns about flagging demand for electronic devices and the chips that go into them.
Sharp, which makes displays and sensors, fell 4.24% — the most of any constituent of the Nikkei 225 .N225 — while Tokyo Electron, which makes chip manufacturing equipment, slipped 0.79%.
The chip industry is likely to remain under pressure, said Takamasa Ikeda, a portfolio manager at GCI Asset Management. “It’s difficult to see profits growing, so it looks like semiconductor-related stocks will remain soft,” he said.
Eight out of the Nikkei’s ten best performers were railway companies, with Central Japan Railway Co 9022.T, East Japan Railway Co 9020.T, and West Japan Railway Co 9021.T leading gains ahead of Japan reopening its borders for regular tourism on Monday.
Retail shares, including department store operators Isetan Mitsuko Holdings Ltd 3099.T and Takashimaya Co Ltd 8233.T, also advanced.
Topix land transportation stocks .IRAIL.T rose 1.11% and air transportation stocks .IAIRL.T gained 0.64%, the only two sectors to gain overall.
Rail stocks have jumped almost 13% since the end of last year, while the broader Topix .TOPX index is down more than 4.6% on the year to date. It fell a further 0.82% on Friday.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange is set to remove almost 500 firms from the Topix index in a move designed to attract more foreign investors.
Japan’s Nikkei share average .N225 lost 0.71% overall to snap a four-day winning streak.
The index fell through the key 27,000 level when markets opened, but made a gradual recovery and closed at 27,116.11. It gained 3.43% on the week.
Trade was limited as investors were cautious ahead of key U.S. non-farm payroll data later in the day, while markets will be closed for a national holiday in Japan on Monday, said Kyoko Amemiya of Amemiya Soken.
Rakuten Group Inc 4755.T lost 1.9% after the announcement that Mizuho Financial Group 8411.T would acquire 19.99% of Rakuten Securities for 80 billion yen ($551.84 million). Shares in Mizuho rose 0.34%.
Shares of Seven & I Holdings Co Ltd 3382.T fell the most in the Nikkei behind Sharp, losing 3.5% despite the company raising its profit forecast for the current financial year.
($1 = 144.9700 yen)
(Reporting by Sam Byford and Tokyo markets team; editing by Uttaresh.V)
((Sam.Byford@thomsonreuters.com;))
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