Tokyo shares close morning lower on declines of high-tech

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - Share prices closed the morning lower, hit by broad-based declines in local high-techs after the heavy losses sustained on Wall Street overnight, dealers said.    The Nikkei 225 index closed the morning down 417.67 points at 13,347.84, off a low of 13,313.86.    Volume was an estimated 342 mln shares.    The Topix was down 33.14 points at 1,304.15, while the Nikkei 300 finished 7.26 points lower at 263.19.    The Nikkei June futures contract was down 350 points at 13,370 on the Osaka exchange and at 13,330 on the SGX.    There were 931 decliners and 374 gainers, with 144 stocks unchanged.    Ark Securities Co Ltd head of the equity department Masahito Nomura said short-term and day-traders turned skeptical about the sustained rebound of the local market after the latest profit warnings in the U.S.    "The downturn of the U.S. market sparked fresh concerns over capital repatriation by U.S. investors," he said.    "There is also the speculation that those foreign players who accumulated long positions recently may rush to lock in profits on recent gains in the new fiscal year," he said.    Mizuho Investors Securities Co Ltd senior strategist Masatoshi Sato also pointed to the downside risk in themarket, citing the fragile nature of the recent upturn given a lack of clarity on the U.S. economy and earnings concerns for Japanese high-techs.    "The recent rebound of the market .... was a mere reflection of overoptimistic expectations about a possible bottoming out of the microchip market in the U.S. and of policy responses by the Japanese government," Sato said.    "Such positive expectations were so puffed up so much that they can burst with just the slightest touch," he said.    Nortel's lates profit-warning accordingly ran through through the market, dragging down related sectors, such as cable makers, dealers said.    Furukawa Electric fell 130 to 1,350, with Sumitomo Electric shedding 65 to 1,465, while Fujikura was down 26 at 805 and Hitachi Cable 53 lower at 787.    The telecom sector may turn lower following its recent rebound, hit by reports that Verizon and Vodafone differ over the implementation of third generation wireless technology.    NTT DoCoMo, which plans to launch 3G services as early as May, well ahead of its rivals, lost 100,000 to 2.29 mln yen.    Japan Telecom, which recently said it would delay the introduction of 3G services until mid-next year, fell 50,000 to 2.25 mln yen.    Among other NASDAQ-sensitive stocks, Rohm lost 1,660 to 20,650, with Advantest declining 640 to 13,260 and TDK off 660 at 8,140.    The release this morning of February industrial output data, which showed a weaker-than-expected result, also pressured the market, dealers said.    The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said industrial output in February rose 0.4 pct month-on-month after a fall of 4.2 pct in January, compared with the consensus forecast of a month-on-month rise of 1.9 pct.     Ark's Nomura said that the poor output data increased concerns that the release Monday of the Tankan report will show similary weak outcome.    "It seems that it has become almost impossible for the Nikkei 225 index to regain the 14,000 point level before the end of this fiscal year," he said.    Mitsubishi Motors fell 12 to 353 after the company revised its year to March net loss forecast to 270 bln yen from the previous estimate of a loss of 140 bln due to special restructuring costs.    The disclosed figure was much larger than expected and analysts also pointed to a lack of decisiveness in the latest restructuring plan and uncertain prospects for any immediate return to profitability.    Mitsubishi Heavy fell 21 to 470 after increasing its year to March loss forecast in line with Mitsubishi Motors.    Tokyo Mitsubishi Securities Co Ltd senior analyst Toshiharu Morota said he has no intention of downgrading his recommendation on the stock, citing the huge underlying growth potential and positive changes in the management.    At the same time, he said he would take a wait-and-see stance towards to see how it fares. 

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