Japan stocks fall, post biggest weekly loss in 3 months on virus worries

By Stanley White
TOKYO, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Japanese shares fell on Friday and
posted their biggest weekly loss in three months as mixed
earnings, rising coronavirus cases and uncertainty over the U.S.
presidential election hurt sentiment.
The Nikkei 225 Index .N225 ended down 1.52% at 22,977.13.
The index declined 2.3% this week, its biggest weekly loss since
July 31.
The broader Topix .TOPX closed 1.96% lower at 1,579.33 on
Friday and fell 2.83% for the week.
A surge in coronavirus cases in Europe and the United States
has rattled investor confidence this week, with France and
Germany reinstating lockdowns - a move that has raised concerns
over global economic recovery.
The growing risk of an inconclusive result to the Nov. 3
U.S. election and a sharp decline in U.S. stock futures EScv1
NQc1 during the Asian session also prompted investors to
reduce long positions, analysts said.
"The fall in U.S. futures is a sign that it's time to take
profits before the election," said Kiyoshi Ishigane, fund
manager at Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co.
"But I'm not too worried because there are some good
Japanese corporate earnings out there."
Leading the losses on the Nikkei, were Kyocera Corp 6971.T
down 9.95%, followed by Oki Electric Industry Co Ltd 6703.T
losing 7.03%, and trading company Mitsui & Co Ltd 8031.T down
by 6.32%. All the companies posted disappointing earnings.
Conversely, the largest percentage gainers were companies
that reported positive earnings. Advantest Corp 6857.T rose
9.24%, followed by Seiko Epson Corp 6724.T gaining 6.83%, and
Panasonic Corp 6752.T up by 4.94%.
Panasonic got another boost after saying it will develop a
new battery for electronic-car maker Tesla Inc TSLA.O .
There were 20 advancers on the Nikkei index against 201
decliners.
The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
main board .TOPX was 1.08 billion, compared with the average
of 1.05 billion in the past 30 days.