Nikkei down as Advantest, techs fall, Rakuten up

TOKYO, Jan 19 (Reuters) The Nikkei share average fell 0.29 percent on Friday as investors sold technology stocks such as Advantest Corp. following weakness in similar shares on Wall Street.

Online shopping mall operator Rakuten Inc. gained 2.9 percent to 64,400 yen, extending its 8.7 percent jump from Thursday when the Nikkei financial daily said Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc was considering launching a tender offer for its shares owned by Rakuten.

''The Nikkei is down following a big drop on the Nasdaq and as investors keep trade in check before the earnings season starts in earnest here next week,'' said Katsuhiko Kodama, senior strategist at Toyo Securities.

''The Nikkei's first section is unlikely to go up or down significantly today as investors' focus seems have turned to laggards on the Mothers.'' The tech-sensitive Nikkei was down 49.76 points at 17,321.17, while the Mothers index of start-ups rose 1.68 percent to 1,197.59 as of 0058 GMT.

The broader TOPIX index was down 0.03 percent to 1,714.61.

Advantest, the world's largest supplier of microchip testers, dropped 2.2 percent to 6,380 yen, becoming the biggest drag on the Nikkei benchmark.

Tokyo Electron Ltd, the world's second-largest microchip equipment maker, fell 2.1 percent to 8,980 yen.

Japanese semiconductor stocks were hit after Apple Inc. and semiconductor equipment maker Lam Research Corp gave lower-than-expected earnings forecasts.

REUTERS PKS BST0710