TOKYO, July 20 (Reuters) - Japanese shares fell on Monday,
tracking weakness in U.S. stock futures and as Japan's exports
suffered a double-digit decline for the fourth month in a row,
rekindling concerns over the extent of economic damage caused by
the coronavirus pandemic.
The benchmark Nikkei share average .N225 dipped 0.35% to
22,616.23 by the midday break, with 75 advancers on the Nikkei
index against 138 decliners.
The broader Topix .TOPX lost 0.32% to 1,568.85, with all
but eight of the 33 sector sub-indexes on the Tokyo exchange
trading in the red.
Airlines .IAIRL.T , textiles .ITXTL.T and land transport
.IRAIL.T were the three worst performers on the main bourse.
Official data showed Japan's exports slumped 26.2% in June
from a year earlier, bigger than the 24.9% decline expected by
economists in a Reuters poll. Shares of export-oriented automakers underperformed as the
data indicated a huge annual decline in U.S.-bound automobile
exports.
Nissan Motor Co Ltd 7201.T dropped 2.96%, while Suzuki
Motor Corp 7269.T and Mitsubishi Motors Corp 7211.T fell
2.54% and 2.47%, respectively.
In another headwind for the market, e-mini futures for the
S&P 500 EScv1 dipped nearly 0.4% in Asian trade.
Investors also remained cautious about rising coronavirus
cases, as more than 14.38 million people have been reported to
be infected by the virus globally and 601,961 have died,
according to a Reuters tally. Among gainers, NEC Corp 6701.T and Fujitsu Ltd 6702.T
rose 2.3% and 2.13% respectively, after the Nikkei business
daily reported that the British government named the companies
as potential alternative suppliers to Huawei to help build its
5G wireless networks.