By Stanley White
TOKYO, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Japanese shares gave up early
gains on Friday to trade little changed as fears over a rising
death toll from the new coronavirus in China outweighed hopes of
an improvement in earnings of technology companies.
By 0159 GMT, the Nikkei index .N225 edged down 0.01% to
23,792.01, heading for a 1% weekly drop.
The markets started on a positive note as information
technology and industrial equipment stocks rose following
better-than-expected sales and profit forecasts from U.S.
chipmaker Intel Corp INTC.O .
But investors turned cautious after China said the death
count rose to 25 from the coronavirus, with 830 confirmed cases
as of Jan. 23 and as Chinese authorities placed two cities on
lockdown to contain the virus. Investors are worried the virus will continue to spread as
millions of Chinese travel during the week-long Lunar New Year
holiday starting on Friday.
Reports of more infections and deaths could dent travel and
tourism spending, which could impact earnings of airline and
consumer goods companies, while benefiting healthcare goods and
drugmakers.
On the Nikkei index, 103 stocks advanced against 115
decliners.
The biggest percentage loser was the non-ferrous metal
producer Toho Zinc Co Ltd 5707.T , down 2.6%, followed by
semiconductor testing equipment maker Advantest Corp 6857.T
and Isuzu Motors Ltd 7202.T , which fell 2.48% and 2.42%,
respectively.
The top gainer was the shipping company Yamato Holdings Co
Ltd 9064.T , up 2.66%, followed by shipbuilder Mitsui E&S
Holdings Co Ltd 7003.T , which gained 2.52% and Nissan Chemical
Corp 4021.T , up 2.17%.
The broader Topix index .TOPX fell 0.2% to 1,726.71. For
the week, the Topix fell 0.4%.
The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
main board .TOPX was 0.41 billion, compared with the average
of 1.1 billion in the past 30 days.