Nikkei down 0.4 pct as pharmaceuticals fall

Tokyo, Nov 10: The Nikkei average slid 0.44 percent on Friday as drug makers such as Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. followed their U S peers lower, while industrial robot maker Fanuc Ltd. fell on caution ahead of machinery orders data for September due later in the day.

Nissin Food Products. Co. Ltd. also fell on a report it may make a white-knight bid for a rival.

''The drug makers are down today in reaction to the U.S. drug stocks, but the Nikkei's slight fall is not a surprise ahead of the weekend and the machinery orders data,'' said Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at Tachibana Securities.

The Nikkei was down 71.10 points at 16,127.47 as of 0144 GMT.

The broader TOPIX was down 0.41 percent at 1,582.48.

Daiichi Sankyo fell 3.2 percent to 3,320 yen, while Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co. declined 4.8 percent to 1,415 yen.

U.S. drug stocks extended losses on Thursday due to continued concern about further regulation of the U.S. health-care industry following the Democrats' election victory.

Nissin Food, fell 3.6 percent at 3,460 yen after the Nihon Keizai newspaper said the instant noodle maker may make a white-knight bid for rival Myojo Foods Co. to counter U.S.

investment fund Steel Partners' unsolicited tender offer.

Machinery stocks such as Fanuc declined ahead of the release of machinery orders data at 0500 GMT. Fanuc was down 1.1 percent at 10,380 yen.

Machinery orders likely rose 1.9 percent in September from the previous month, according to the median forecast in a Reuters poll. The highly volatile figures are seen as a key measure of capital spending.

If the numbers come in significantly below those forecasts, that could spark stock selling, Tachibana's Hirano said.

REUTERS