By TOKYO, Feb 19 Reuters Japans Nikkei share average slipped on Friday as profittaking ahead of the weekend trumped optimism over a broad economic recovery, though the index gained for a third straight week.
The Nikkei fell 0.72 to 30,017.92, moving further away from its 3012year high of 30,714.52 touched on Monday. Still, it managed to end the week 1.69 higher.
The broader Topix slipped 0.67 to 1,928.95 and was down 0.25 for the week.
Since the rally had been quite fast, we are having a bit of correction, said Hideyuki Ishiguro, a senior strategist at Daiwa Securities, adding that the Nikkeis drop was in line with falls in global stocks.
Fast Retailing, which has the highest weight in the Nikkei, fell 2.4, reversing early gains as investors took profits following its almost 10 rise this week.
Strong gains in Fast Retailing and other Nikkei heavyweights including SoftBank Group have boosted the index more than the broader Topix, lifting the NT ratio to a record 15.60 earlier in the day.
Its true that Fast Retailings earnings were pretty strong but you could say thats all priced in, with its extremely high valuations, said Fumio Matsumoto, chief strategist at Okasan Securities.
Online brokerage Monex tumbled 10.4 after having more doubled since the start of month by Thursday.
Some travelrelated shares also slipped after gains earlier this week following the start of the countrys COVID19 vaccination programme.
ANA Holdings fell 3.9, while Japan Airlines fell 3.7….
