Tech stocks pull back Japanese Nikkei; Toyota and Mitsubishi fly with a sharp attitude

Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell on Wednesday, led by technology heavyweights, although strong gains in shares of Toyota Motor and Mitsubishi Corp after the companies announced firmer outlooks and gains on investments helped offset losses.

At 0222 GMT, the Nikkei was down 0.1% at 36,112.53, recovering from a 0.7% fall earlier in the session.

The broader Topix rose 0.39% to 2,549.13.

“Investors took advantage of the better-performing stocks and bought cheaper stocks, as we saw today in chip-related stocks, which followed losses in the US stock index,” said Naoki Fujiwara, senior fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management. .

“But overall, market sentiment remained strong because there were more stocks going up than down.

All three major Wall Street indexes rose overnight, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose just 0.07%, while the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index ended down 1.14%.

In Japan, air conditioner maker Daikin Industries fell 8.25%. Chipmaker Tokyo Electron lost 1.1% and chip test equipment maker Advantest fell 0.02%.

KDDI fell 2.37% after the phone company announced a 500 billion yen ($3.38 billion) takeover bid for Lawson convenience stores, jointly with Mitsubishi Corp.

Lawson shares jumped 15.51%.

Mitsubishi jumped 9.45% after the trading company said it would spend up to 500 billion yen to buy up to 10% of its shares.

Itochu and Mitsui & Co rose 2.25% and 1.95% respectively, pushing the overall index to 2.9%.

Toyota Motor rose 4.69% after the company raised its full-year profit forecast by nearly 9%. Auto and parts makers jumped 3.64%, becoming the best performers of the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s (TSE) 33 sub-industrial indexes.

Of the more than 1,600 stocks on the TSE main market, 49% rose, 44% fell and 5% were flat. ($1 = 147.9100 yen)