Japanese shares skid as trade war worries spur shift away from cyclicals

* Trump comments seen as sign Sino-U.S. trade deal elusive
* U.S. bill on Uighurs further complicating negotiation
* Cyclicals including chip-related shares hit
* Small, domestic-oriented shares outperform

By Hideyuki Sano
TOKYO, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Japanese shares tumbled on
Wednesday as comments from U.S. President Donald Trump and a
U.S. House bill targeting camps for Muslims in Xinjiang
reignited fears a trade deal between Washington and Beijing may
not come through.
Renewed concerns about the global economic outlook also
prompted investors to shift funds from global cyclicals to
domestic-demand oriented shares.
The Nikkei 225 index .N225 skidded 1.05% to 23,135.23,
closing below its 25-day moving average of 23,255, a key
technical support, for the first time in almost two months.
The broader Topix .TOPX lost 0.20% to 1,703.27 but ,
advancing shares outnumbered decliners by a ratio of 57 to 43 in
an unusual twist.
Trump's comments that a trade deal with China might have to
wait until late 2020 raised fresh doubts on when the dispute
might end, while a U.S. House bill targeting camps for Muslims
in Xinjiang drew Beijing's ire. The Uighur bill calls on the U.S. President to, among other
things, impose sanctions for the first time on a member of
China's powerful politburo.
"I think the Uighur bill is far more significant than Hong
Kong bill for China. The U.S-China trade talk is breaking down,"
said Hiroaki Hayashi, managing director at Fukoku Capital.
Cyclical shares led the losses, with securities brokerage
the worst performing among the Tokyo Stock Exchange's 33
industry subindexes .TSEK .
Nomura Holdings 8604.T fell 2.4% while Daiwa Securities
Group 8601.T dropped 1.8%.
Semiconductor-related shares that had benefited from hopes
of a bottom-out in the sector, were also caught in the
downdraft.
TDK 6762.T fell 1.8% while Taiyo Yuden 6976.T lost 2.1%.
Murata Manufacturing 6981.T stumbled 2.1% while industrial
robot manufacturer Fanuc 6954.T dropped 1.5%.
Generally, exporters were also hit from the yen's gains so
far this week. Honda Motor 7267.T shed 1.1%, though Toyota
Motor bucked the trend to rise 0.8% 7203.T .
The yen has strengthened over 1% in the past 48 hours.
Fast Retailing 9983.T dived 4.9% after the operator of the
Uniqlo casual clothing chain reported weak domestic sales in
November. The drop was enough to chop 110 points, or 0.5
percentage point, off the Nikkei.
On the other hand, many defensive shares advanced, including
utility companies.
Tokyo Electric Power 9501.T rose 3.2% while Chubu Electric
Power 9502.T gained 1.9% and Osaka Gas 9532.T 1.8%.
Small cap shares were another bright spot, with Topix Small
.TOPXS , which excludes top 500 companies, rising 0.40%.