TOKYO: Japan's Nikkei share average fell on Tuesday as semiconductor-related heavyweights declined after a drop in South Korea's Samsung Electronics weighed on regional technology stocks.
The Nikkei was down 1.35% at 68,798.93, as of 0133 GMT.
The broader Topix index slipped 0.21% to 4,093.39 after hitting a record high of 4,137.62 earlier in the session, as investors bought financial and other beaten-down value stocks.
"The market looked into the shares of Samsung Electronics , which fell even as the memory chipmaker's forecast beat the market forecast," said Kazuaki Shimada, chief strategist at IwaiCosmo Securities.
Shares of Japan's high-flying memory maker Kioxia fell 10.86% and chip-related Advantest and Tokyo Electron lost 0.64% and 1.85%, respectively.
"This is a healthy correction of the distorted market. The market is selling chip-related stocks and buying value shares which became cheap," Shimada said.
The tech-heavy Nikkei tends to track moves in South Korea's benchmark index, which is also heavily weighted toward chip stocks.
Samsung Electronics fell more than 5%, weighing on regional technology shares, after the world's largest memory chipmaker on Tuesday forecast a 19-fold jump in second-quarter operating profit from a year earlier. This disappointed investors who had expected a stronger earnings outlook.
South Korea's stock benchmark KOSPI slumped more than 5% in early trade.
Japan's banking shares rose, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group up 3%. Shares of Mizuho Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group advanced 2% and 1.26%, respectively.
Toyota Motor rose 1.45%.
Topix's value share index climbed 0.14%, against a 0.36% fall of the growth share index.
Of the more than 1,500 stocks trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's prime market, 66% rose, 31% slipped and 2% traded flat. - Reuters
