TOKYO, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei index fell to a
five-month low on Wednesday, dragged down by Sony Group and
Toyota Motor, tracking Wall Street's weak finish overnight.
The Nikkei share average fell 2.8% to 27,467.23, its
lowest since Aug. 20, while the broader Topix lost 2.97%
to 1,919.72.
Wall Street's main indexes fell sharply overnight, as weak
results from Goldman Sachs weighed on financial stocks and
technology shares continued their sell-off as U.S. Treasury
yields rose to milestones.
"Investors sold Japanese stocks as they were worried the
U.S. market would fall because the Federal Reserve will try to
raise rates despite some negative economic data," said
Shigetoshi Kamada, general manager at the research department of
Tachibana Securities.
Factory activity in New York state slumped in January amid a
surge in COVID-19 infections.
Sony Group tanked 12.79% and was the worst
performer on the Nikkei after gaming rival Microsoft
said it will buy developer Activision Blizzard.
Toyota Motor fell 4.97% after the automaker said it
expects to miss its annual 9 million vehicle production target
as it tackles chip shortages.
Toyota's affiliate Denso was down 5.17%.
Chip-related firms Tokyo Electron and Advantest
fell 6.06% and 5.29%, respectively.
Videogame publishers shined earlier in the session, with
Konami Holdings rising 1.72%, however Nintendo
and Bandai Namco Holdings snapped early gains to fall
0.22% and 0.32%, respectively.
There were 12 advancers on the Nikkei index against 211
decliners.
The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
main board was 1.51 billion, compared with the average of 1.08
billion in the past 30 days.
(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Shounak
Dasgupta)