* Nikkei briefly below 9,000 in thin trade
* Exporters fall as yen advances
* Panasonic tumbles after bigger-than-expected loss forecast
* Chugai Pharmaceutical up as influenza worries grow
By Elaine Lies
TOKYO, May 18 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average lost
2.9 percent on Monday, briefly touching its lowest point since
May 1, as Sony Corp <6758.T> and other exporters fell in the wake
of an advancing yen.
Panasonic <6752.T> dropped 7.8 percent after it forecast a
bigger-than-expected annual loss following a record quarter of
red ink, battered by weak demand, price falls and restructuring
costs. []
Chugai Pharmaceutical <4519.T> rose on hopes for strong sales
of the Tamiflu flu drug after the number of HIN1 flu cases
climbed among Japanese who had not been abroad, but market
analysts said worries about the impact of the virus on Japan's
economy also gave investors an excuse to take profits.
[]
The yen sank 0.6 percent to 94.61 yen <JPY=> on growing
worries about risk after Wall Street closed weakly last week.
[]
"Given that many exporters have set their currency rate at 95
yen, we're now getting to a worrisome level," said Takashi Ushio,
head of the investment strategy division at Marusan Securities.
Investors fret about a stronger yen as it eats into profits
made abroad when repatriated.
"We're also seeing investors taking profits, using the
potential economic impact should the flu situation get a lot
worse as an excuse," Ushio added.
But other analysts said the slide was mainly a reaction to
Wall Street's Friday losses, noting that the Nikkei hit six-month
highs last week after gaining sharply and that a slight
correction was not surprising.
A batch of U.S. economic reports on Friday reinforced hopes
that the recession may be easing, but falling oil prices dragged
down energy shares and the rest of Wall Street with them. []
Oil edged lower after falling nearly 4 percent on Friday as
dealers became increasingly pessimistic about the outlook for
global energy demand. []
"Recent economic indicators show that the worsening of the
economy appears to have stopped, but now we need to see signs of
recovery or it'll be difficult for stocks to rise decisively,"
said Yoku Ihara, a manager at the investment information
department of Retela Crea Securities.
The benchmark Nikkei <> lost 264.67 points to 9,000.35
after falling as low as 8,997.74, its lowest since May 1. The
broader Topix <> fell 2.7 percent to 857.52.
EXPORTERS HIT
Orders for Japanese stocks placed through 10 foreign
securities houses before the start of trade on Monday showed that
foreign brokers were set to be net buyers of 2.8 million shares.
Analysts noted that the Nikkei's 25-day moving average now
comes in at about 8,954 and could provide support, but that this
depends on whether the yen's advance against the dollar is halted
or not.
Exporters battered the tech- and exporter-heavy Nikkei. Canon
Inc <7751.T> lost 5.7 percent to 3,120 yen, Kyocera Corp <6971.T>
lost 2.5 percent to 7,310 yen and Sony tumbled 6 percent to 2,415
yen. Industrial robot maker Fanuc <6954.T> lost 3.9 percent to
7,430 yen.
Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> fell 3.1 percent to 3,480 yen and
Honda Motor Co <7267.T> shed 3.6 percent to 2,665 yen.
Oil's tumble weighed on resource-linked shares, with oil and
gas field developer Inpex <1605.T> losing 4.4 percent to 667,000
yen and Mitsubishi Corp <8058.T>, Japan's largest trading house,
losing 2.8 percent to 1,620 yen.
But Chugai, which distributes Tamiflu through its partnership
with developer Roche, bucked the trend to rise 4.6 percent to
1,848 yen, becoming the biggest contributor to the Nikkei 225 by
volume weight.
Fujibo Holdings <3104.T>, which makes medical masks, soared
30.3 percent, or by its daily limit, to 129 yen.
Trade was thin, with 1 billion shares changing hands on the
Tokyo exchange's first section, lower than last week's morning
average of 1.2 billion.
Declining shares outpaced advancing shares by nearly 5 to 1.
(Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Joseph Radford)
