Nikkei down 0.45 pct as Sony, recent gainers fall

TOKYO, Apr 10 (Reuters) The Nikkei average fell 0.45 percent on Tuesday as investors took profits on recent gainers such as Sony Corp. after the benchmark logged its highest close in nearly six weeks the previous session.

Shares of high-tech glass maker Hoya Corp. and Pentax Corp.

fell after a Pentax executive said the board of the Japanese camera and medical equipment maker is expected on Tuesday to scrap a planned share-swap merger of the two companies.

''The Nikkei had risen on expectations that (last week's) U.S.

jobs data would push up U.S. stocks, so it moving on the unexpected reaction from the U.S. market, and disappointed investors are taking profits,'' said Yutaka Miura, deputy manager of the equity information department at Shinko Securities.

U.S. stocks closed flat on Monday despite a government report released on Friday showing that the U.S. economy added more jobs than expected in March.

''With a lack of domestic events that can lift the market, stocks are likely to take their direction from U.S. stock moves and the currency for a while,'' he said.

Miura said corporate earnings results later in the month may not become a market boosting factor as companies are expected to announce conservative outlooks for this business year.

The Nikkei was down 79.54 points at 17,664.22 as of 0108 GMT.

The TOPIX fell 0.23 percent to 1,734.10.

Hoya shed 1 percent to 4,100 yen, while Pentax lost 2.3 percent to 782 yen.

Among recent winners that were sold, Sony fell 1.7 percent to 6,330 yen and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. shed 1.4 percent to 4,130 yen.

Elsewhere, shares of Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. rose 2.1 percent to 6,830 yen after the drug maker said that U.S.

investment firm Brandes Investment Partners will propose it lift its annual dividend to 700 yen per share.

Reuters DKS VP0705