*Nikkei down 1.5 percent
*Financials hit after U.S. peers fall after housing data
*Blue-chip exporters sold off amid thin trade
(Adds stocks, details)
By Elaine Lies
TOKYO, July 25 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average fell
1.5 percent on Friday, with Mizuho Financial Group <8411.T> and
other banks battered after their U.S. rivals lost ground on poor
housing data.
Industrial robot maker Fanuc Ltd <6954.T> led the market
lower after a brokerage warned about its second-quarter profits
while Honda Motor Co <7267.T> and other blue-chip exporters
succumbed to profit-taking following Japanese share gains this
week.
"This week, the Nikkei rose 800 points in three days.
Investors are sated right now and have no more appetite to buy,"
said Masayoshi Okamoto, head of dealing at Jujiya Securities.
"People are standing back and waiting for Japanese corporate
earnings reports, which are moving into higher gear now. It's
likely to be a difficult couple of weeks, and now is perhaps a
good time to take profits."
The Dow fell the most in almost a month after data from the
National Association of Realtors showed June sales of existing
homes hit a 10-year low, while higher oil prices also fuelled
fears about the U.S. economy.
The benchmark Nikkei <> shed 209.50 points to 13,393.81.
The broader Topix <> was down 2 percent at 1,305.95.
Shrugging off data showing Japan's core annual inflation
accelerated to a new decade-high in June, market players said
they were focusing on individual stocks in the absence of factors
driving the overall market.
"We need both more trading activity and more supportive
factors before investors will become interested enough to start
pushing the market higher again," said Katsuhiko Kodama, a senior
strategist at Toyo Securities.
Jujiya's Okamoto said he thought the Nikkei will pivot around
the 13,500 level for the next week or so as major firms release
results and investors digest these.
Chip-equipment maker Advantest Corp <6857.T> is among the
firms announcing results later on Friday. Its shares were down
4.6 percent at 2,290 yen, adding to falls earlier this week after
a brokerage cut its rating on chip gear makers to "neutral" from
"bullish."
BANKS BRUISED
No 2. bank Mizuho Financial Group was on track for its
biggest one-day percentage drop in more than four months,
tumbling 6.8 percent to 538,000 yen.
Top lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group <8306.T> slid 3.8
percent to 993 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group <8316.T>
fell 3.9 percent to 857,000 yen.
Canon Inc <7751.T> was 3.4 percent lower at 5,180 yen after
posting a 12 percent fall in quarterly profit on sluggish
monochrome copier demand and unfavourable currency rates.
[]
Toyota Motor Co <7203.T> slid 3.3 percent to 4,950 yen and
Honda <7267.T> shed 1.8 percent to 3,770 yen. Sony Corp <6758.T>
slid 3.7 percent to 4,380 yen.
But the top drag on the Nikkei by volume weight was Fanuc
which tumbled 4.4 percent to 9,630 yen. UBS warned the industrial
robot maker's profits may fall in the second quarter, though it
saw operating profit growth of 4.5 percent in the first quarter.
"Profit growth was thus maintained, but the rate of growth is
flattening rapidly alongside the global economic slowdown," UBS
analyst Hidehiko Hoshino wrote in a note to clients.
Trade slowed on the Tokyo exchange's first section, with 833
million shares changing hands, compared with last week's morning
average of 858 million.
Declining stocks outpaced advancing ones by a ratio of more
than 3 to 1.
(Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
