Nikkei drops on profit-taking, semiconductor stocks slump

TOKYO: Japanese shares ended lower on Tuesday as investors booked profits after a sharp gain in the previous session, while semiconductor and other high-tech firms' stocks took a hit following overnight weakness in U.S. peers on Nasdaq.

The benchmark Nikkei share average slipped 0.87% to close at 22,587.01, after hitting a one-month high in the previous session. There were 83 advancers against 135 decliners on the index.

In the broader market, Topix fell 0.5% to 1,565.15, following a 2.46% jump in the previous session.

All but seven of the 33 industry subindexes in the Tokyo Stock Exchange were in negative territory, with fishery and forestry, airlines and land transport leading the losses.

Semiconductor shares were bruised by a 2.13% drop on the Nasdaq Composite index, which was pulled down by Amazon, Microsoft and other big-name leaders of Wall Street's recent rally as fresh coronavirus restrictions in California and mounting U.S.-China tensions triggered a selloff.

Advantest Corp slipped 2.43%, while Screen Holdings Co Ltd and Tokyo Electron Ltd fell 2.41% and 1.45%, respectively.

Other high-tech shares also underperformed, with Fujitsu Ltd falling 0.3% and Fanuc Ltd dipping 0.69%.

Sony Corp dropped 1.98%, after reaching its highest level since 2001 in the previous session.

Elsewhere, Nikkei heavyweight SoftBank Group Corp fell 1.36% after a Wall Street report said the tech conglomerate is exploring options including a full or partial sale or public offering of British chip designer Arm Holdings.