Nikkei hits the skids on Wall St losses; chip-related firms under pressure

SYDNEY, May 1 (Reuters) - Japanese shares retreated from a
near eight-week peak on Friday, led by declines in chipmaking
firms and as investors chose to re-shuffle the deck following a
streak of earnings reports.
The benchmark Nikkei average .N225 fell 2.8% to 19,619.35
points, erasing Thursday's 2.6% gain, with overnight Wall Street
losses and weaker U.S. stock futures weighing. E-Mini futures
for the S&P 500 ESc1 last traded down 1.6%.
The Nikkei, however, was up 1.9% for the week. The index
climbed 6.7% in April, marking it best month since October 2017.
Wall Street lost ground on Thursday as dismal economic data
and mixed corporate earnings prompted investors to lock in
profits, with all three major U.S. indexes .SPX .DJI .IXIC
finishing lower. .N
In Tokyo, shares of semiconductor-related stocks tracked
losses in their U.S. peers, after the Philadelphia semiconductor
index .SOX tumbled 3.7% overnight.
Chip-making gear manufacturers Tokyo Electron Ltd 8035.T
and Screen Holdings Co Ltd 7735.T slid 5.5% and 6.1%,
respectively, while test device maker Advantest Corp 6857.T
dropped 5.6%.
The broader Topix .TOPX shed 2.2% to 1,431.26, also off an
eight-week high marked on Thursday, with all of the 33 sector
sub-indexes on the Tokyo exchange finishing lower.
Highly cyclical sea transport .ISHIP.T , iron and steel
.ISTEL.T and insurance .IINSU.T were the worst three
performing sectors on the main bourse.
Even companies whose earnings results didn't disappoint
investors were not immune from the broad-based selling.
Kagome Co Ltd 2811.T slipped 1.2% even though the tomato
processor posted a 42.0% jump in net profit for the financial
year ended in March. Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd 6981.T lost 2.0% after the
electronic parts maker reported a 5.1% drop in annual operating
profit, which beat the company's initial guidance.
Traders said the earnings reports prompted some investors to
book profits ahead of a long holiday weekend. Markets in Japan
will be closed until Wednesday for the annual Golden Week
holidays.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) Inc 8306.T dropped
4.4% as the country's largest banking group cut its annual net
profit estimate by 30%, primarily due to a one-off charge at its
Thai unit. Elsewhere, Z Holdings Corp 4689.T , formerly known as Yahoo
Japan, bucked the broader trend to advance 1.7% after the
internet services firm posted an 8.4% increase in operating
profit for the year ended March.