Japan shares fall for 4th straight day as U.S.-China tensions flare

SYDNEY, May 15 (Reuters) - Tokyo shares dropped for a fourth
straight session on Friday on concerns about worsening
U.S.-China relations and as investors booked profits ahead of
data expected to show that Japan's economy shrank for a second
straight quarter.
The benchmark Nikkei average .N225 dipped 0.3% to
19,854.03 by the midday break, with real estate and other
defensive sectors leading the losses.
For the week, the Nikkei was down 1.6%, poised for its first
weekly decline in three.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said he was very
disappointed with China's failure to contain the coronavirus
disease and that the pandemic had cast a pall over his January
trade deal with Beijing. Trump suggested he could even cut ties
with China. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 ESc1 , which were last
quoted down 0.4% in Asian trade, further pressured Tokyo shares.
The broader Topix .TOPX fell 0.3% to 1,441.96 by the
recess, with two-thirds of the 33 sector sub-indexes on the
Tokyo exchange trading lower.
Defensive real estate .IRLTY.T , fish and forest .IFISH.T
and foods .IFOOD.T were the three worst-performing sector
subindexes on the main bourse.
Mitsubishi Estate Co Ltd 8802.T tumbled 8.8% after the
company cut its full-year dividend outlook and forecast a 25.9%
fall in net profit for this business year to March 2021.
Traders said some profit-taking also weighed on the market
before the release of Japan's gross domestic product (GDP) data
for the January-March quarter, due on Monday.
Japan's economy likely shrank for a second straight quarter
in the first three months of this year, a Reuters poll showed,
meeting the technical definition of recession as the pandemic
wiped out consumption and business activity. Bucking the overall weakness, semiconductor-related
companies were in demand following a 2.8% gain overnight in the
U.S. Philadelphia semiconductor index .SOX .
Chipmaking gear manufacturer Tokyo Electron Ltd 8035.T
rose 1.2% and test device maker Advantest Corp 6857.T climbed
1.4%.