Tech shares slide after Wall St sell-off

HONG KONG, Jan 26 (Reuters) Asian stocks fell on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei average extending its pullback from a six-year high as energy firms such as INPEX Holdings dropped on lower oil prices, while technology shares slid in line with their U.S. peers.

Even upbeat results from Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software maker, failed to inspire investors.

After the closing bell, Microsoft reported a quarterly net profit that beat Wall Street expectations and lifted its full-year profit target. Its shares rose more than 2 percent in extended trading, reversing a 2.06 percent fall in normal hours.

By 0023 GMT, Tokyo's Nikkei average had lost 0.43 percent as chip-tester maker Advantest Corp. dropped 1.15 percent, Tokyo Electron shed 0.69 percent and industrial robot maker Fanuc dipped 0.44 percent.

INPEX slid 0.84 percent after oil prices fell below a barrel as ample U.S. fuel inventories offset colder weather in the U.S. Northeast. Oil was trading at .41 a barrel on Friday.

The Nikkei average had hit an intraday six-year high on Thursday before closing lower.

In South Korea, falls of 0.83 percent for Samsung Electronics and 1.79 percent for memory chip maker Hynix Semiconductor helped drag the key KOSPI down 0.48 percent.

Hyundai Motor lost 0.75 percent a day after the top auto maker reported a surprise 8.6 percent drop in quarterly operating profit, while its affiliate, Kia Motor Corp., shed 0.43 percent ahead of its fourth-quarter earnings.

''There is not enough positive news to lift shares significantly, and the fall in U.S. markets could be another factor that could pressure shares,'' said Kim Hak-kyun, an analyst at Korea Investment and Securities.

The Australian market is shut for the Australia Day public holiday and will reopen on Monday.

In Taiwan, TSMC looked set to fall a day after posting its smallest quarterly profit in five quarters. Its U.S.-traded shares lost 6.27 percent and settled at a 0.6 percent discount to their local shares.

MSCI's measure of Asian stocks excluding Japan slipped 0.27 percent, after coming within easy reach of its Jan. 3 all-time high on Thursday.

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks fell sharply as energy firms sagged on lower oil prices. The blue-chip Dow average lost 0.94 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index shed 1.30 percent.

REUTERS PDS RN0745