Exporters lead Nikkei down, GDP taken in stride

TOKYO, May 19: The Nikkei average fell 0.62 percent on Friday as investors, unnerved by extended declines in U.S. stocks, reacted little to data showing Japan's economy grew more strongly than expected in the January-March quarter.

Exporters such as Honda Motor Co. Ltd. and Sony Corp. led the market lower, while Tokyo Electron Ltd. rose on industry data showing the North American chip equipment market improved in April.

''The GDP data came in stronger than expected, but the market didn't move on that,'' said Yusuke Sakai, manager of equities trading at Mizuho Securities.

''The lost of momentum in the New York market is a major concern here. It seems to me that investors have been looking for clues on how to get rid of this deadlock situation but in vain,'' he said.

The Nikkei average was down 100.14 points at 15,987.04 as of 0054 GMT. It booked its seventh decline in eight sessions on Thursday to end down 1.35 percent at its lowest closing level since March 9.

The TOPIX index was down 0.65 percent at 1,621.50.

Government data released before the opening showed Japan's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 0.5 percent in real, price adjusted terms in the January-March quarter from the previous quarter, beating the market consensus of a rise of 0.3 percent.

Shares in Honda, Japan's third-biggest auto maker, fell 2.1 percent to 7,440 yen. Industry leader Toyota Motor Corp. lost 1.1 percent to 6,080 yen.

Sony fell 1.2 percent to 5,080 yen. Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd., maker of Panasonic products, lost 0.6 percent to 2,435 yen.

But Tokyo Electron, the world's second-biggest chip equipment maker, was up 2 percent at 8,780 yen.

U.S. trade group data showed on Thursday that the book-to-bill ratio of North American semiconductor chip equipment orders rose for a fourth straight month in April. The rate stood at 1.11 in April, meaning that for every 0 of products shipped, 1 in new orders were booked.

Reuters