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Nikkei loses grip on 20,000 as blue-chips slip

TOKYO: Japan's key Nikkei average lost its grip on the key 20,000-point mark on Friday, as investors played safe and took profits in market heavyweights such as Sony Corp.

"Investors are inclined to cash in on gains before the end of this business year (on March 31), and they have been waiting for the best timing," said Masaru Yamano, an equities general manager at Taiheiyo Securities.

"The Nikkei's recent rise above 20,000 has given them their cue."

The benchmark Nikkei average of 225 leading shares closed down 137.57 points or 0.69 percent at 19,927.54.March Nikkei futures: fell 120 points to 19,940.

The capital-weighted TOPIX index of all shares listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) lost 31.99 points or 1.86 percent to 1,686.49.

The percentage loss in the Topix was larger than the Nikkei's fall due to major declines in shares such as Internet investor Softbank Corp and mobile phone giant NTT Docomo 9437.T, neither of which are Nikkei components.

Sony fell 4.02 percent to 31,000, while Softbank tumbled 6.71 percent to 139,000 and NTT Docomo lost 5.44 percent to 4.17 million yen.Sony shares had been climbing sharply over recent weeks ahead of the planned launch of the second generation of its blockbuster PlayStation game console on Saturday.

Despite the weaker tone in on Friday trading, the market's downside is expected to remain solid in the coming sessions as investors remain eager to buy major information technology stocks on dips, said Hiroichi Nishi, deputy general manager at Nikko Securities.

Besides Docomo, most other telecom shares headed south, with Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp, Docomo's parent, down 1.97 percent at 1.49 million yen, and international carrier Corp losing 2.42 percent to 10,100 yen.

Long distance carrier and mobile phone operator Corp fell 5.66 percent to one million yen, after it revised its group net forecast for the year to March to a loss of 15 billion yen from a 21 billion yen profit. One of the few bright spots in the market was Mazda Motor Corp, which rose four percent to 312 yen, after the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said the automaker would reduce its domestic vehicle output capacity by 20 percent by 2002.

Mazda denied the report, but investors bought its shares on expectations the Ford Motor Co F.N affiliate would eventually take comparable restructuring steps, said Toshikazu Suzuki, an analyst at Taiheiyo Securities.

On the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, volume totalled 717.35 million shares, down from on Thursday's 801.70 million.

Decliners outnumbered advancers 726 to 541, while 129 issues were unchanged.

Among other indices, the Nikkei 300 fell 2.94 points or 0.94 percent to 308.73 and the second section index lost 49.98 points or 1.65 percent to end at 2,972.41.

Among other individual stocks, Arabian Oil Co Ltd fell 75 yen or 12.67 percent to 517, extending recent losses. The major oil producer lost an off-shore oil concession in the Saudi Arabian portion of the Neutral Zone at the beginning of the week.

Takara Shuzo Co Ltd, an alcohlic beverage maker active in biotechnology, lost 390 yen or 12.04 percent to end at 2,850 after Nomura Securities downgraded its outlook on the company.-Reuters