Nikkei falls as techs hit by Goldman downgrades

TOKYO, Oct 3 (Reuters) The Nikkei average was on track to snap a four-session winning streak on Tuesday, falling 0.41 percent by midday after Goldman Sachs cut ratings on tech heavyweights including Sony Corp. and Pioneer Corp.

Shares of Nomura Real Estate Holdings Inc., Japan's fifth-largest property firm, climbed more than 11 percent in their market debut on Tuesday.

Sony finished the morning down 2.8 percent at 4,600 yen after earlier hitting 4,580 yen, a low for this year.

The stock, which has been battered by the company's massive recall of notebook-computer batteries, took another hit after Goldman cut its rating to ''neutral'' from ''buy''.

The brokerage cited concern about Sony's game division and a fierce business environment for the electronics business.

''It is difficult to expect much growth from (Sony's) stock price at this point,'' said Shigemi Nonaka, special adviser at Polestar Investment Management.

In particular, investors are worried about the outlook for its next-generation Playstation3 game console, Nonaka said.

''There seems to still be a lot of concern about (the PS3)....

This is a stock that is tough to buy at the moment,'' he said.

The Nikkei finished the morning down 66.73 points at 16,187.56. The benchmark rose to its highest close in a nearly a month on Monday.

The broad TOPIX index was down 0.63 percent at 1,614.90.

PIONEER, CASIO ALSO HIT BY GOLDMAN Fellow consumer electronics firm Pioneer dropped 3.2 percent to 1,980 yen after Goldman cut its rating on the stock to ''sell'' from ''neutral'', citing lower earnings in the car electronics business.

Shares of Casio Computer Co. Ltd. were hit after the brokerage removed the stock from its ''conviction buy'' list, citing recent price gains. Casio, a maker of digital cameras and mobile phones, fell 2.3 percent to 2,345 yen.

Selling was also spurred by the view that some stocks had advanced too quickly during the Nikkei's latest rise, said Katushiko Kodama, a senior strategist at Toyo Securities.

''At the moment, it seems that investors are opting to cash in some of their recent winnings,'' Kodama said.

''There are concerns the market is a little overheated,'' he said.

Shares of Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. fell 2.1 percent to 11,010 yen, becoming the biggest contributor to the Nikkei's decline.

The stock rose more than 8 percent during the previous five sessions.

Shares of Nomura Real Estate Holdings jumped in their market debut, finishing the morning at 3,910 yen. The company set an IPO price at the top of its target range at 3,500 yen per share last month.

Elsewhere, shares of Nittoc Construction Co. Ltd. rose 3.2 percent to 130 yen. The contractor will be one of the biggest gainers when the Tokyo exchange adjusts the weighting of stocks in the TOPIX index at the end of October, exchange data showed on Monday.

Trade volume fell from the previous session, with 688 million shares changing hands on the Tokyo exchange's first section, though that was still higher than last week's morning average of 617 million shares.

Declining shares beat advancers by a ratio of more than two to one.

REUTERS AKJ KP0940