Nikkei down 0.5 pct as data hits Fanuc, autos up

TOKYO, May 15 (Reuters) The Nikkei average fell 0.53 per cent on Tuesday with machinery stocks such as industrial robot maker Fanuc Ltd. down after March core machinery orders data came in below expectations.

But the market got support from auto shares such as Honda Motor Co. Ltd. after news that Germany's DaimlerChrysler had found a buyer for its Chrysler unit, boosting hopes for industry consolidation.

''The biggest factor driving down the market is the worse-than-expected machinery data,'' said Hiroaki Kuramochi, managing director at Bear Stearns.

Japan's core private-sector machinery orders, a key gauge of corporate capital spending, fell 4.5 percent in March from the previous month, below economists' consensus forecast for a 1.3 percent increase, government data showed on Tuesday.

''But investors can't decide the Japanese economic outlook just based on one indicator, and they will closely watch GDP data and a series of earnings results.'' A string of companies including Sony Corp. are set to announce results this week. Japan will announce January-March gross domestic products data on Thursday.

Kuramochi said the yen softened after the release of the data, and markets would focus on whether that would support high-tech exporters.

In New York on Monday, the dollar was up 0.1 percent at 120.35 yen The dollar was at 120.46 yen in early Asian trade.

A weaker yen is a boon to companies that make the bulk of their sales abroad because it boosts profits when earnings from overseas are brought home.

The Nikkei was down 93.75 points at 17,584.19 as of 0034 GMT.

The broad TOPIX index lost 0.46 percent to 1,723.06.

Shares of Fanuc were down 1.1 percent at 11,190 yen, while Honda rose 1.7 percent to 4,150 yen.

Machine tool maker Okuma Holdings Inc. and some other machinery stocks also fell following the machinery orders data.

Shares of Okuma declined 2.2 percent to 1,589 yen, Mori Seiki Co. shed 1.5 percent to 3,280 yen and Toshiba Machine Co. fell 1.7 percent to 1,133 yen.

REUTERS PDS VP0720