Tokyo shares fall as Wall Street slides on virus resurgence fears

SYDNEY, May 13 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks fell on
Wednesday, moving further away from the two-month high hit on
Monday, as markets tracked Wall Street's decline on fears of a
second wave of COVID-19 infections, while some profit booking
also weighed on shares.
At the midday break, the benchmark Nikkei average .N225
was down 0.8% at 20,210.54, with cyclical sectors leading the
declines.
Overnight, Wall Street's all three major indexes .DJI
.SPX .IXIC dropped about 2% following a warning from the Dr.
Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the United
States, that premature moves to reopen the economy could lead to
a second wave of cases and set back economic recovery.
.N
E-mini futures for the S&P 500 index ESc1 last traded down
0.3% in Asian trade.
Dragging Tokyo shares further, traders said some profit
taking was inevitable sooner or later because of the recent
rally. On Monday, both the Nikkei and the Topix closed at their
highest levels since March 6.
Investors also kept a watch on simmering U.S.-China tensions
after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the main federal
government pension fund not to invest in Chinese companies.
In broader markets, the Topix .TOPX dropped 0.5% to
1,469.00 by the recess, with four-fifths of the 33 sector
sub-indexes on the Tokyo exchange trading lower.
Highly cyclical iron and steel .ISTEL.T , insurance
.IINSU.T and air transport .IAIR.T sectors were among the
worst performers on the main bourse.
Shiseido Co Ltd 4911.T tumbled 4.9% after its net profit
plunged by a shocking 95.8% in January-March quarter and the
cosmetics maker withdrew full-year profit and dividend guidance,
citing COVID-19 uncertainty.
Toyota Motor Corp 7203.T , the biggest Japanese company by
market cap, lost 1.9% following the automaker's warning that its
operating profit will fall almost 80% in the current financial
year. Bucking the overall weakness, NEC Corp 6701.T jumped 5.2%
to a 2-1/2-month high after the electronics maker delivered a
positive surprise for investors by raising its annual dividend
forecast.