The Nikkei falls for a second day in a row under pressure from the microchip sector

TOKYO, July 21 (Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei stock index closed lower on Friday as semiconductor stocks fell amid a sell-off in US-listed companies.

Paper giants of the industry: Tokyo Electron and Advantest – gained 5.6% and 5.8%, respectively, taking away almost 200 points from the Nikkei index.

As a result of the session, the Tokyo benchmark lost 0.57% to 32,304.25 points, while the broader Topix index showed a nominal increase of 0.06% to 2,262.20 points.

Chip component maker Screen Holdings and chip maker Renesas Electronics outperformed their larger competitors, losing 4.9% and 2.5% respectively.

However, Daiwa Securities’ Kenji Abe continues to favor uptrend stocks over mid-term undervalued stocks.

“U.S. inflation seems to have peaked and the Fed is very close to ending its rate hike cycle, so I expect the long-term U.S. interest rate to fall further, which will be good for upside stocks,” he said.

Abe expects the Nikkei to trade in a tight range next week as the Fed and Japan’s central bank meet and Japan begins its reporting season.

The analyst predicts that by the end of the year the Nikkei may increase to 34,000.

The best sector on Friday’s session was energy, which rose by 1.4% due to higher oil prices.

The original message in English is available under the code: (Kevin Buckland, translated by Tomasz Kanik)