Nikkei slips as automakers, real estate stocks dip

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese stocks slid on Thursday, weighed down by real estate firms and automakers, which were sold on worries about the health of the U.S. economy. U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday as investors shifted into defensive shares, especially drugmakers, but market players said Tokyo shares had risen on Wednesday in anticipation of such gains and had little energy to rise again.

"We need to see what happens in the United States, particularly what policy steps the Federal Reserve may adopt," said Takeshi Ozawa, senior fund manager at Norinchukin Zenkyoren Asset Management.

"The overall direction in terms of individual shares is not so clear, but in the short-term it does seem as if overall selling simply out of fear may be over."

Shares of automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp fell despite a slightly softer yen due to continuing worries about U.S. economic health, and this weighed on the market as a whole.

"I haven't heard of any specific (reason) for the fall, but there are concerns about the U.S. economy," said Yusuke Sakai, a manager of equities trading at Mizuho Securities.

"Japanese automakers should do well considering the industry's ecological focus, but if the overall pie becomes smaller, they are bound to be negatively affected."

Realtors were also a drag on the market, apparently after a bearish brokerage report.

By midsession, the Nikkei had slipped 0.8 percent to 14,482.22, a loss of 116.94 points. The broader TOPIX was down nearly 1 percent at 1,410.57.

CARS SLIDE, HIGH-TECHS HIGHER

Toyota was down 1.9 percent at 5,700 yen, while Honda Motor Co Ltd lost 1.4 percent to 3,430 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd shed 2.8 percent to 1,099 yen.

Sumitomo Realty & Development, a major real estate developer, had slipped by 4.4 percent to 2,505 yen, and Mitsubishi Estate Co Ltd was down by 3.2 percent at 2,390 yen. Other realtors also fared poorly.

But high-tech companies made up for some of their losses of recent sessions after Tokyo Electron said orders for its chip- and flat panel display-making equipment rose 55 percent in October-December from the prior quarter to 198 billion yen thanks to recovering capital spending by panel makers.

Tokyo Electron surged 6.1 percent to 6,440 yen, and chip tester maker Advantest Corp gained 2.9 percent to 2,875 yen.

Trade was relatively active, with 880 million shares changing hands on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section, compared with a morning average of 724 million for the final week of December.

Declining shares beat advancing ones by more than two to one.

(Additional reporting by Aiko Hayashi; Editing by Hugh Lawson)