By Hideyuki Sano and Stanley White
TOKYO, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Japanese shares slumped on Friday,
logging their biggest daily decline in nearly a year, after a
spike in global bond yields spooked investors already uneasy
about the market's stretched valuation.
The Nikkei average .N225 ended down 3.99% at 28,966.01,
hitting its lowest level in almost three weeks. The broader
Topix .TOPX fell 3.21% to 1,864.49. Both indexes posted their
biggest single-day fall since April last year.
All of the Tokyo Stock Exchange's 33 industry subindexes
were in the red, with electronic machinery makers .IELEC.T ,
pharmaceuticals .IPHAM.T and real estate companies .IRLTY.T
falling more than 3%.
Semiconductor-related shares, one of the main leaders of the
market's rally to 30-year highs, succumbed to heavy selling,
after U.S. chip shares .SOX fell 5.8%.
Sumco 3436.T fell 5.59%, while Lasertec 6920.T shed
5.33%. Advantest 6857.T dropped 7.51%, while Screen Holdings
7735.T lost 6.53%.
Precautions about rising inflation and a weak U.S. bond
auction boosted global bond yields, dampening investors'
appetite for risk assets.
Analysts pointed to market's sharp rise as contributing to
its current slide as well. "In a nutshell, I think the stock
market had risen a bit too much," said Soichiro Monji, chief
strategist at Nishimura Securities.
Rising bond yields also hit assets that have been considered
as an alternative to low-yielding bonds. The TSE's index of real
estate investment trusts (REITs) .TREIT fell 2.84%
Market players are now awaiting whether the Bank of Japan,
which has refrained from buying stock exchange traded funds
(ETFs) so far this month, will purchase them later in the day.
The central bank in its next policy meeting is expected to
signal it will make its ETF purchases more flexible.