Japanese shares slide as investors flee risk on pandemic uncertainty

TOKYO, April 24 (Reuters) - Japanese shares edged down on
Friday, as their rebound since last month showed signs of
fatigue, with investors still in the dark over when and how
quickly the economy can recover from the fallout of the
coronavirus pandemic.
Cyclical shares led the losses, with 29 of 33 industry
sub-indexes in the Tokyo Stock Exchange trading in the red,
while semiconductor-related shares were hit by dim earnings
outlook from U.S. chipmaker Intel INTC.O .
The Nikkei share average .N225 fell 0.81% to 19,272.42. It
held above its 25-day moving average, now at 18,969 but faces
resistance from 50-day average at 19,894.
The market is on track for its first weekly loss in three,
with the Nikkei down 3.1% by midday.
The broader Topix .TOPX lost 0.62% on Friday morning to
1,417.21.
Semi-conductor shares were bruised by a 6% drop in Intel
INTC.O shares in extended trade after the chipmaker forecast
second-quarter earnings below Wall Street views, but said it was
unclear about its annual outlook due to the economic uncertainty
caused by the pandemic. Disco 6146. fell 3.5% even as the semi-conductor
manufacturing machine maker announced consensus-beating earnings
for Jan-March the previous session.
Advantest 6857.T lost 2.1%, while Tokyo Electron 8035.T
fell 1.9%.
Corporate earnings from Japanese companies have started to
trickle in, but provided little clarity so far on what to expect
from the rest of the season.
Canon Inc 7751.T shed 2.8% after the camera and copy
machine maker withdrew earnings forecast for the current
financial year, citing difficulty in predicting the end of the
coronavirus impact.
Its net profit in the Jan-March quarter dropped 30% from a
year earlier, though it came in better than market expectations.
Bucking the trend, Omron 6645.T rose 5.1% after its
full-year profit topped estimates. Chugai Pharmaceutical 4519.T gained 2.6% as the drugmaker
reported brisk profit growth in the quarter that ended in March.