Nikkei hits 4-wk low on exporters, earnings in focus

                                
   * Google results prompt profit-taking
                                
* Earnings-related news big driver for individual stocks
                                
* Falls limited as buying on dips emerges
                                
* Nikkei below 25-day moving average
                                
* Foreign buying may be helping to check falls -fund manager
                                
 By Aiko Hayashi
                                
 TOKYO, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average hit a
four-week low on Monday before recouping some ground, as
exporters such as Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> slid on a stronger
yen and after Google's revenue figures failed to live up to some
bullish expectations.
                                
 Earnings-related media reports prompted much of the action in
individual stocks, with Canon <7751.T> climbing on a report that
its operating profit appears to have topped initial forecasts due
to robust camera demand. [ID:nTOE60M008]
                                
 The market received support from gains in U.S. stock futures
<SPc1> and a halt in the advance of the yen.
                                
 "Gains in U.S. stock futures prompted investors to expect a
rebound on Wall Street after sharp falls, while buying on dips
appeared as the Nikkei has fallen below its 25-day moving
average, which erased worries about overheating," said Mitsushige
Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management.
                                
 On Friday, U.S. stocks capped their worst three-day slide in
10 months on fears a White House plan to limit risk-taking by
banks will cut profits and on uncertainty about the confirmation
of Ben Bernanke for another term as Federal Reserve chairman.
[ID:nN22139362]
                                
 The benchmark Nikkei <.N225> slipped 0.3 percent to
10,554.31, below its 25-day moving average of around 10,600. The
index earlier fell as much as 1.7 percent to 10,414.58, its
lowest level since Dec. 24.
                                
 The broader Topix <.TOPX> fell 0.3 percent to 938.19.
                                
 "Good earnings in the U.S and Japan have been already
factored in, but if reports that exceed market expectations come
out, that will likely accelerate buying by investors who are
ready to snap up stocks at lows," said Ichiyoshi's Akino.
                                
 TECHS TICK LOWER
                                
 Shares of tech firms fell after Google Inc <GOOG.O> posted
revenue growth that lagged some of Wall Street's most bullish
expectations, although its profit was higher than expected.
[ID:nN20157752] [ID:nN21236193]
                                
 Other disappointing news on the technology front came from
Advanced Micro Devices Inc <AMD.N>, which warned that sales will
be down in the first quarter of 2010.
                                
 Tokyo Electron <8035.T>, the world's second-largest maker of
chip-producing equipment, slipped 0.4 percent to 5,750 yen
despite saying on Friday it would resume the construction of a
plant in northern Japan as it sees a recovery in the market.
[ID:nTFA006566]
                                
 But Tokyo analysts said that while they could not ignore
Friday's losses on Wall Street, which capped three days of falls
that left all the indexes down more then 3 percent on the week, a
big part of the falls in the U.S. and Japan was likely to have
been profit-taking.
                                
 "These results came just when markets were poised for
profit-taking, and (President Barack) Obama's bank proposals fed
into this mood as well. Any events will be used as an excuse to
take profits," said Hiroaki Osakabe, a fund manager at Chibagin
Asset Management.
                                
 Some analysts felt foreign buying could be helping limit the
Nikkei's slide, noting that banks and other big-cap shares did
not appear to be down as much as might be expected.
                                
 Prior to the start of trade, buy orders from foreign brokers
outnumbered sell orders by 100,000 shares.
                                
 The dollar was steady at 90.12 yen <JPY=>, after earlier
hitting a one-month low of 89.71 yen. Investors fret about a
stronger yen as it eats into exporters' profits when they are
repatriated. [FRX/]
                                
 Toyota slid 1.5 percent to 3,995 yen and Honda Motor Co
<7267.T> fell 1.1 percent to 3,195 yen.
                                
 In earnings-related news, Mitsui Chemicals <4183.T> lost
nearly 3 percent after the Nikkei newspaper said the company
likely broke even on an operating basis for the three months
ended in December, against analysts' expectations for a profit of
several billion yen.
                                
 Kyowa Hakko Kirin <4151.T> declined 3.7 percent to 926 yen
after the drugmaker said its nine-month profit was likely to have
come in lower than an earlier estimate, hit by weaker sales and
drug license fees.
                                
 Nissha Printing Co Ltd <7915.T> tumbled 7.5 percent to 4,095
yen after the world's largest maker of small and mid-sized touch
panels cut its annual earnings forecast by 19 percent, citing
sharp price falls.
                                
 But Canon rose 0.9 percent to 3,805 yen, while Asahi Glass Co
<5201.T> gained 2.3 percent to 962 yen on a report that it will
likely beat its annual operating profit forecast in 2009.
 (Reporting by Aiko Hayashi; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)