Nikkei erases early gains as profit-taking offsets upbeat earnings

TOKYO, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Japanese shares slipped on Friday,
giving up early gains, as a boost from technology companies
reporting upbeat earnings was overshadowed by investors'
profit-taking and rebalancing at the end of month.
Still, the market is on course to post its third straight
month of gains, with the Nikkei still hovering below a 30-year
high touched earlier in the month.
Japan's Nikkei share average .N225 slipped 0.18% to
28,145.63 by midday, after gaining 0.44% earlier in the session.
The broader Topix .TOPX was down 0.07% at 1,837.60.
"It appears pension funds are reducing their positions as
they change their allocation at the end of month," said a trader
at a Japanese brokerage.
That also hit some chip-related shares which had benefited
from strong earnings reports.
Advantest 6857.T eased 0.4%, erasing earlier gains of 5.1%
after the company raised its profit forecast for the year ending
in March, citing strong demand for its chip-testing machines.
Tokyo Electron 8035.T slipped 2.7%, reversing gains of
2.4% after the chip manufacturing machine maker hiked its annual
guidance for a second time in the current financial year.
Canon 7751.T fell 5.4%, after gaining about 50% this month
as the maker of camera and printer announced a solid earnings
growth in the last quarter as expected. However, some other companies managed to maintain their
share gains after reporting strong results. Among tech stocks,
Fujitsu 6702.T gained 3.8% and Shinko Electric 6967.T rose
8.9%. Nomura Real Estate 3231.T rose 5.7% and Oriental Land
4661.T gained 2.4% following quarterly results which showed a
stronger-than-expected recovery of the Tokyo Disney Resort.
JCR Pharma extended its gains to its third day, rising
20.4%, as its upbeat earnings announced on Thursday added to the
bullish mood spurred by the news that AstraZeneca AZN.L will
license the firm to produce some 90 million doses of its
COVID-19 vaccine