By Stanley White
TOKYO, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Japanese shares retreated from a
one-week high on Wednesday as downbeat earnings reports
underscored the economic blow from the COVID-19 pandemic and a
firmer yen weighed on exporters.
The Nikkei index .N225 was down 0.63% at 22,431.23 by 0221
GMT, with the consumer discretionary and the telecommunications
sectors leading the declines.
The broader Topix .TOPX fell 0.64% to 1,545.32
The Nikkei has rallied 37% from this year's low hit in March
but has recently struggled to break above resistance around
23,000 as investors turn more cautious in the face of rising
coronavirus cases at home and elsewhere.
Highlighting the impact of the pandemic, Mitsubishi UFJ
Financial Group Inc (MUFG) 8306.T , Japan's largest lender by
assets, said on Tuesday its net profit more than halved.
Shares in MUFG fell 0.7% on Wednesday.
Sony Corp 6758.T , another major company to report earnings
on Tuesday, traded 1.5% lower as worries over its future
earnings eclipsed better-than-expected results from the company.
More Japanese companies are set to report earnings in the
coming days.
There were 56 advancers on the Nikkei index against 165
decliners.
The underperformers among the top 30 core Topix names were
SoftBank Group Corp 9984.T , down 3.78%, followed by East Japan
Railway Co 9020.T , losing 3.73%.
Among the Topix 30 stocks that gained the most were
gamemaker Nintendo Co Ltd 7974.T , up 2.73% ahead of its
earnings on Thursday, followed by industrial conglomerate
Hitachi Ltd 6501.T .
The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
main board .TOPX was 0.26 billion, compared with the average
of 1.2 billion in the past 30 days.