(Adds stocks, details)
By Aiko Hayashi
TOKYO, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks fell after earlier
gains on Friday, dragged down by Sony Corp <6758.T>, which lost
more than 6 percent after the maker of PlayStation game gear and
Vaio PCs cut its earnings outlook. []
The market lost steam as investors turned nervous ahead of
U.S. jobs data out on Friday and as a rise in financial stocks on
Wall Street had been mostly factored in during Thursday's trade
in Japan, said Takahiko Murai, general manager of equities at
Nozomi Securities.
The jobs data is due at 1330 GMT on Friday. []
"Sony's operating profit didn't go up as much as investors
had expected, and they are disappointed," Murai said.
"The stock is very sensitive to moves in North American
consumption, and if personal consumption slows, it might have a
hard time. The worst seems to be over, but the currency poses
another concern."
The benchmark Nikkei average <> ended the morning
session down 0.6 percent or 84.67 points at 13,507.80 after a 1.9
percent gain on Thursday.
The broader TOPIX index <> shed 0.7 percent or 8.78
points to 1,337.53.
The U.S. market rallied after MBIA, the No. 1 U.S. bond
insurer, said it had enough cash to run its business of
guaranteeing payments on corporate and municipal bonds. Standard
& Poor's also told the company it had enough capital to keep its
triple-A rating, MBIA executives said. []
SONY HIT
Sony skidded 6.5 percent to 4,880 yen. The consumer
electronics maker posted a small rise in quarterly operating
profit and cut its outlook as weaker markets eat into its
investments and a firmer yen hurts overseas sales.
Still, Koichi Ogawa, a chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB
Investments, said investors appear to be overselling Sony.
"Maybe this presents a buying opportunity for the stock as if
you take a step back and see, Sony has started making profits on
its game business."
In contrast, Panasonic maker Matsushita Electric Industrial
Co Ltd <6752.T> jumped 3.6 percent to 2,330 yen after reporting a
22 percent gain in quarterly operating profit on Thursday on
brisk demand for its digital cameras and flat televisions.
Another notable stock was Suzuki Motor Corp <7269.T>, which
shot up 6.4 percent to 2,845 yen.
The automaker booked a better-than-expected 23 percent jump
in quarterly profit as its Swift, SX4 and other compact cars
powered robust global sales growth amid record-high fuel prices.
[]
Japan's top bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group <8306.T> was
down 1.3 percent at 1,020 yen.
Trade was moderate on the Tokyo exchange's first section,
with 1 billion shares changing hands, in line with last week's
morning average.
Declining stocks beat advancing ones by a ratio of nearly two
to one.
(Reporting by Aiko Hayashi)
