TOKYO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks fell to two-week
low on Tuesday, dragged down by tech companies after Apple Inc
AAPL.O warned it was unlikely to meet its sales target for the
March quarter as the coronavirus outbreak hurt production and
demand in China.
The Nikkei average .N225 fell 1.2% to 23,237.44 points by
the midday break, its lowest level since Feb. 4, and the broader
Topix .TOPX dropped 1.2% to a two-week low of 1,667.72.
All but one of the 33 sector sub-indexes on the Tokyo Stock
Exchange were trading lower, with precision machinery
.IPRCS.T , metal products .IMETL.T and electric machinery
.IELEC.T being the worst three performers.
Apple told investors late on Monday that its manufacturing
facilities in China that produce iPhone and other electronics
have begun to re-open, but are ramping up slower than expected.
Among its Japanese suppliers, electric parts maker Murata
Manufacturing Co Ltd 6981.T shed 3.4% and Taiyo Yuden Co Ltd
6976.T , which produces ceramic capacitors for iPhones, lost
4.1%.
Also hurting market sentiment was news that the Trump
administration was considering changing U.S. regulations to
allow it to block shipments of chips to Huawei Technologies
HWT.UL from companies such as Taiwan's TSMC 2330.TW , the
world's largest contract chipmaker. Tokyo-listed semiconductor equipment supplier Tokyo Electron
Ltd 8035.T tumbled 4.7%, while semiconductor test equipment
maker Advantest Corp 6857.T plummeted 6.5%.
Elsewhere, Asics Corp 7936.T , one of the sponsors of Tokyo
Marathon, slid 4.7% after organisers of the March 1 race said
the 38,000 general participants who signed up for the event will
not be allowed to compete, citing coronavirus fears.