SYDNEY, May 29 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks retreated from
three-month highs on Friday, as escalating U.S.-China tensions
over Hong Kong prompted investors to take profits from recent
sharp gains ahead of the weekend.
The benchmark Nikkei average .N225 fell 0.3% to 21,854.00
by the midday break, dropping below a major chart point of the
200-day moving average it crossed the previous day.
Market participants now await U.S. President Donald Trump's
response to China's passage of a national security law for Hong
Kong.
Trump said on Thursday he would hold a news conference on
China on Friday, as his administration moves to pressure Beijing
over its treatment of Hong Kong. Traders said Sino-U.S. worries were the main headwinds and
that this much of correction was not surprising given this
week's big rallies. The Nikkei rose 7.5% in the last four days.
The broader Topix .TOPX dropped 0.4% to 1,571.18 by the
midday recess, also off its three month-high touched on
Thursday, with two-thirds of the 33 sector sub-indexes on the
Tokyo exchange trading lower.
Highly cyclical iron and steel .ISTEL.T , sea transport
.ISHIP.T and transport equipment .ITEQP.T were the worst
three performing sectors on the main bourse.
Nissan Motor Co Ltd 7201.T slumped 7.7% as the company
posted an annual operating loss of 40.5 billion yen ($377
million) for the business year ended in March, its worst
performance since 2008/09. Nikon Corp 7731.T slumped 8.8% after the company reported
a massive 91.8% fall in its operating profit for the financial
year ended on March 31. Bucking the overall trend, the index of Mothers start-up
shares .MTHR advanced 2.6% to a 16-month high.
For the week, both the Nikkei and the Topix were still up
7.2% and 6.3%, respectively, and set to log their second
consecutive weekly gains.
($1 = 107.4200 yen)