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3 Minutes to Read (Reuters) – TOKYO, July 16 (Reuters) – On Friday, Japan’s Nikkei stock average dipped below the psychologically important 28,000 mark, as tech stocks followed Wall Street’s overnight falls, while a persistent rise in coronavirus infections dampened investor morale. COVID has a new look. On Thursday, the number of illnesses in Tokyo jumped to 1,308 cases, the highest since January, a week before the city hosts the Olympics, which could start a new outbreak due to the influx of international athletes and officials. “We could see the number of new cases rise over the January peak,” said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities. “It’s unlikely that the outbreak of diseases will abate very soon, delaying Japan’s economic recovery. That is what the markets are currently pricing in.” After the Nasdaq Composite led falls in US stocks with a 0.7 percent drop, the tech-heavy Nikkei plummeted as low as 27,847.35 before completing the morning session down 1.1 percent at 27,974.72. Chipmakers Advantest and Tokyo Electron fell 3% and 2.2 percent, respectively, after rival TSMC announced plans to establish new factories in the US and Japan, as well as expand manufacturing capacity in China. Nikon Corp and Olympus Corp, both camera manufacturers, declined 2% and 1.8 percent, respectively, while Sony Group Corp fell 2%. Eisai, the Nikkei’s largest loser, plummeted 9.7% after some large hospitals refused to utilize an Alzheimer’s medicine comparable to one it developed with Biogen. Fast Retailing, the owner of the Uniqlo apparel brand, slumped 3.8 percent after lowering its full-year profit prediction. The Topix index fell 0.3 percent to 1,934.53. The Topix Growth Index fell 0.5 percent, while the Value Index remained unchanged, indicating that tech stocks were a drag. Among the core 30 Topix names, Sony suffered the biggest loser. Nintendo, which is not part of the Nikkei, was among the worst performers, down 1.4 percent. SoftBank Group lost 0.8 percent of its value. For the second day in a row, miners were the worst performers on the Topix, down 1.5 percent as crude oil prices fell further. Pharmaceuticals down 1.4 percent, while precision machinery manufacturers fell 1.2 percent. (In Tokyo, Kevin Buckland reported; Hideyuki Sano contributed additional reporting; Vinay Dwivedi edited.)/nRead More

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