Tokyo stocks down for fifth straight day

Tokyo stocks fell for the fifth straight trading day Tuesday, with investor sentiment weighed down by a strong yen and a retreat from records on Wall Street.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 1.43 percent or 337.37 points to 23,291.97, while the broader Topix index was down 1.19 percent or 22.32 points at 1,858.13.

"It is no surprise to see profit-taking as the rising pace on Wall Street was too fast," said Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities.

"But we should not be too pessimistic as investors are still ready to buy shares based on positive earnings," Horiuchi told AFP.

Okasan Online Securities chief strategist Yoshihiro Ito said the correction would likely continue as investors were discouraged by sharp drops in US stock prices and the strong yen.

Wall Street fell on Monday ahead of a heavy calendar of corporate earnings reports this week, including from technology giants.

Apple slid more than two percent after the Nikkei daily reported it was slashing production of the latest model of its iPhone, adding to worries about the company's earnings.

Apple will halve production of the iPhone X in the three-month period from January from the level envisaged at the time of its release in November, the leading business paper said.

In Tokyo, Apple suppliers dropped with Sony down 1.92 percent at 5,183 yen while electronics components maker Murata lost 1.91 percent to 15,625 yen.

The Nikkei also reported Sharp was considering buying Toshiba's PC operations. Toshiba was down 0.31 percent at 316 yen but Sharp rose 0.24 percent to 4,025 yen.

Renesas Electronics jumped as much as 3.6 percent in opening trade after American television network CNBC reported it was in talks to acquire US chipmaker Maxim Integrated Products in a deal that could be up as much as $20 billion.

But the stock closed down 0.69 percent to 1,279 yen after Renesas denied the report.

The dollar stood at 108.66 yen Tuesday afternoon against 108.98 yen in New York on Monday.

Currencies barely reacted to a Japanese government survey showing household spending slipped 0.1 percent in December from a year earlier, suggesting demand remains sluggish in the world's third-largest economy despite a tight labour market.