Nikkei down on technology shares, Bridgestone

TOKYO, June 28: The Nikkei dropped 1.51 percent on Wednesday as Advantest Corp. and other technology stocks fell on losses in their U.S. counterparts, while Bridgestone Corp.

tumbled after the tyre maker cut its profit forecast, citing higher costs of raw materials.

Concerns about higher interest rates in the key U.S. market also weighed on shares of exporters. The Federal Reserve is expected to lift its benchmark rate after a two-day meeting that ends on Thursday.

Chip-equipment makers were sold after the Philadelphia Stock Exchange's semiconductor index booked its biggest one-day percentage decline in a month on Tuesday, dropping 3.75 percent.

''Japanese chip firms are a big contributor to the Nikkei, so their losses are definitely having an impact on the market,'' said Hideyuki Suzuki, investment information manager at SBI Securities.

The Nikkei was down 229.62 points at 14,942.19 as of 0100 GMT. The TOPIX index declined 1.24 percent to 1,530.18.

Chip-gear maker Advantest dropped 2.9 percent to 10,910 yen, becoming the biggest contributor to the tech-sensitive Nikkei's decline. Tokyo Electron Ltd. dropped 1.3 percent to 7,650 yen.

Shares of Bridgestone fell 5.8 percent to 2,105 yen after Japan's largest tyre maker cut its profit forecast for the current year by 35 percent, citing rising costs of rubber, oil and other raw materials.

Elpida Memory Inc. declined on concern over dilution after the chip maker said it would issue up to 32.3 million new shares to help fund an aggressive capacity expansion plan.

Elpida was down 8.3 percent at 4,200 yen.

Reuters