Japan shares fall as third wave of COVID-19 outbreak hurts sentiment

By Stanley White
TOKYO, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks fell for a third
consecutive session on Friday as a rise in new domestic
coronavirus infections to record highs fuelled concerns that
officials will place new restrictions on business activity.
The Nikkei 225 index .N225 ended down 0.42% at 25,527.37.
The broader Topix .TOPX erased losses to end 0.06% higher at
1,727.39.
The Nikkei rose 0.6% for the week after hitting a 29-year
high on Tuesday as progress in developing a coronavirus vaccine
lifted equities.
The optimism, however, faded quickly as a sharp increase in
coronavirus cases suggested that Japan's economy could weaken
before a vaccine becomes widely available. Authorities in the United States and Europe are placing new
restrictions to slow another wave of virus infections, which is
an additional reason to pocket profits on the rally in global
stocks from March lows, analysts say.
"The main focus is on the renewed spread of the
coronavirus," said Takashi Hiroki, chief strategist at Monex
Securities.
"Stocks had risen to pretty good levels, but now there is
incentive to take some money off the table."
The underperformers among the Topix 30 were Daikin
Industries Ltd 6367.T , down 2.64%, followed by Tokio Marine
Holdings Inc 8766.T , losing 2.52%.
Air conditioner maker Daikin took a hit after the Nikkei
newspaper reported that electric vehicle maker Tesla TSLA.O
was considering making air conditioners for homes.
The stocks that gained the most among the top 30 core Topix
names were SoftBank Group Corp 9984.T , up 2.62 %, followed by
Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd 6981.T , up 1.48%.
Hitachi Metals Ltd 5486.T jumped 9.88% after Nikkei
reported that its parent Hitachi Ltd 6501.T had begun
accepting bids for the metals company.
There were 100 advancers on the Nikkei index against 119
decliners.
The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
main board .TOPX was 0.92 billion, compared with the average
of 1.15 billion in the past 30 days.