Nikkei drops as investors anxious about pandemic's impact on earnings

SYDNEY, April 13 (Reuters) - Japanese shares fell on Monday
as investors worried about the impact of the coronavirus
outbreak on corporate earnings, though stocks of key oil
exploration firms rose after major producers finally agreed
their biggest-ever output cut. The key Nikkei average .N225 dropped 0.8% at 19,349.74 by
the midday break on subdued activity.
The volume of shares traded on the main board valued at
only 743 billion yen ($6.8 billion) by the midday recess -
roughly half of normal value - largely due to the paucity of
foreign investors due to the Easter holidays.
A number of companies that have postponed their earnings
announcements due to the pandemic came under pressure.
Nidec Corp 6594.T shed 1.3% after the electric-motor maker
said it will delay its earnings announcement, which was
originally scheduled on April 24, but gave no new date.
Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd 5802.T fell 1.4% after
the company also postponed its earnings report by one week to
May 19.
Bucking the trend, Yaskawa Electric Corp 6506.T gained
2.1% as the company provided a quarterly projection after
suspending its earnings guidance for its current financial year.
The industrial robot producer forecast an operating profit
of four billion yen for the March-May period, even though some
analysts had projected an operating loss for the quarter.
The broader Topix .TOPX fell 0.5% to 1,422.92, with
three-fourth of the 33 sector sub-indexes on the exchange
trading in negative territory.
Iron and steel .ISTEL.T , sea transport .ISHIP.T and
warehouse and wharf .IWHSE.T were the worst three performing
sectors on the main bourse.
Elsewhere, Japan's top oil and gas company Inpex Corp
1605.T and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co Ltd 1662.T
advanced 3.0% and 2.2%, respectively, as oil prices rebounded on
Monday after major producers finally agreed their biggest-ever
output cut as the pandemic severely curtailed global demand.
= 108.81 yen)