Nikkei marks first weekly fall in 3; chipmakers drop on dour Intel outlook

By Hideyuki Sano
TOKYO, April 24 (Reuters) - Japanese shares ended lower on
Friday, marking their first weekly decline in three, as
investors are still in the dark over when and how quickly the
economy can recover from the fallout of the coronavirus
pandemic.
The Nikkei share average .N225 closed 0.86% lower at
19,262.00, with a weekly loss of 3.2%.
The broader Topix .TOPX lost 0.33% to 1,421.29.
Cyclical shares led the losses, with 27 of 33 industry
sub-indexes in the Tokyo Stock Exchange trading in the red,
while semiconductor-related shares were affected by dim earnings
outlook from U.S. chipmaker Intel INTC.O .
"Although the market had rallied on hopes of a peak-out in
the global coronavirus epidemic and re-opening of the economy in
the West, buying had been driven by speculation and has run its
course," said Masahiro Ayukai, senior investment strategist at
Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
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. closed 4.9% lower even as the semi-conductor
manufacturing machine maker announced consensus-beating earnings
for Jan-March the previous session.
Advantest 6857.T lost 4.1%, while Tokyo Electron 8035.T
ended 3.1% weaker.
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 1.3% 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.
Tokyo Gas 9531.T closed down 5.3% after the firm cut its
profit estimate for the year through March 31. Bucking the trend, Omron 6645.T rose 7.5% after its
full-year profit topped estimates. Chugai Pharmaceutical 4519.T gained 2.5% as the drugmaker
reported brisk profit growth in the quarter that ended in March.