Nikkei down 0.6 pct, exporters sold, fisheries up
(Updates to midsession)
TOKYO, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average fell 0.6 percent on Friday, dragged down by exporters such as Honda Motor Co Ltd (7267.T) and Canon Inc (7751.T) after losses on Wall Street and gains in the yen versus the dollar.
Investors were reluctant to take positions ahead of a three-day weekend, and the market is expected to stay within a narrow range in negative territory.
"Moves to safety were seen in today's session as investors were buying fishery stocks and non-ferrous shares, which are relatively unaffected by fluctuations on Wall Street and the yen," said Hiroyuki Fukunaga, chief strategist at Rakuten Securities.
The Tokyo stock exchange's fishery and forest subindex .IFISH.T advanced 0.8 percent and non-ferrous metals subindex .INFRO.T rose 0.4 percent.
Fishery Nippon Suisan Kaisha Ltd (1332.T) rose 3.7 percent to 612 yen.
"Steel makers are also bought, as investors are attracted to their dividends," Fukunaga said
Sumitomo Metal Industries (5405.T) jumped 4 percent to 624 yen, adding to a 9.5 percent gain in the previous three sessions.
JFE Holdings Inc (5411.T) rose 1.9 percent to 7,920 yen, while Nippon Steel Corp (5401.T) gained 1.4 percent to 816 yen.
Honda fell 3.9 percent to 3,720 yen, and Canon Inc shed 2.7 percent to 6,120 yen.
The benchmark Nikkei .N225 ended the morning session down 103.70 points at 16,310.09. The broader TOPIX index fell 1.14 percent to 1,548.94.
Trade was moderate, with 904 million shares changing hands against an average of 882 million shares a day last week. Declining shares outnumbered advancers by 1,302 to 313.
SHARP AND PIONEER SOLD
Sharp Corp (6753.T) fell 2.1 percent to 1,917 yen. Pioneer Corp (6773.T) plunged 3.4 percent to 1,354 yen after starting the day higher, rising as much as 2.9 percent in early morning session.
The two consumer electronics makers said on Thursday that Sharp will acquire a 14.3 percent stake in Pioneer to form an alliance to jointly develop the next-generation DVD players, car electronics and displays. Continued...
