Japan’s Nikkei index is falling for a second day under pressure from chip stocks

The Japanese Nikkei index ended lower on Friday, affected by the acceleration of declines in stocks related to chips, which are tracking their counterparts in the United States.

Semiconductor giants Tokyo Electron and Advantest fell 5.6 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively, wiping nearly 200 points from the Nikkei index.

The Nikkei index fell 186 points, or 0.57 percent, to 32,304.25.

By contrast, the broader Topix index, which is not very focused on technology stocks, rose 0.06 percent.

Chip component maker Screen Holdings and chip maker Renesas Electronics fell 4.9 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.

This comes after the Philadelphia Semiconductor index fell 3.6 percent last night, in the worst daily performance this year.

The big losses in chip stocks on Friday erased the impact of the rally in automaker Nidec, which rose 10.4 percent on positive data.

Energy stocks were the best performers, and its sub-index rose 1.4 percent, supported by higher crude oil prices.