TOKYO, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Prices on the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell on Tuesday, snapping a five-day winning streak amid a lack of incentives for buying and continued economic uncertainty. These factors kept the market from reacting to Monday's gains on Wall Street.
The blue-chip Nikkei 225 Stock Average, which rose 171.88 points on Monday, lost 120.45 points, or 1.4 percent, to 8,823.99. The broader Topix index fell 10.39 points, or 1.2 percent, to 864.00.
Declines led advances 1,038 to 323, with 120 shares unchanged.
Volume fell to an estimated 725.96 million shares from 904.51 million shares on Monday.
Although there was little market-moving news, analysts said that many investors remained worried that Japan's economic slump will continue to defy policy solutions. As a result, they booked profits on recent gains -- just to be safe.
Tech stocks fell despite gains Monday by their counterparts in the United States, as index-linked selling by Japanese financial institutions for hedging purposes hit the tech-heavy Nikkei.
Banks were mixed, even though several released favorable April-September results and full-year profit projections on Monday. But investors worried that details of government plans to accelerate the write-off of bad loans, to be released later this week, could change banks' earnings outlooks.
Mizuho Holdings fell 6.9 percent and Mitsubishi-Tokyo Financial Group slipped 0.1 percent. But UFJ Holdings added 4.3 percent as its earnings announcement, and a report hinting of possible financial aid from auto giant Toyota Motor, eased fears of credit risks.
Sony Corp. fell 0.2 percent after five days of gains. Advantest slid 1.8 percent, Tokyo Electron lost 1.7 percent, Toshiba fell 3.6 percent and NTT DoCoMo ended down 1.6 percent-- while its parent, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, dropped 1.3 percent.
Auto stocks ended mostly lower as profit-taking continued after their relatively strong performance earlier in the year. Nissan Motor fell 2.9 percent, Honda Motor lost 1.3 percent, Toyota Motor rose 0.3 percent and Mitsubishi Motors lost 4.3 percent.
Elsewhere in Asia, prices on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange ended lower, snapping a 10-day winning streak. The blue-chip Hang Seng Index, which rose 35.45 points on Monday, fell 105.25 points, or 1.04 percent, to 9,995.52.
There was some encouraging economic news after the close, when the government said exports surged 12.9 percent year-on-year in October by value, beating market expectations for a 9.5 percent expansion, as China's trade continued to surge.
Hong Kong's biggest stock by market capitalization -- HSBC Holdings -- lost 1.4 percent.
Fixed-line phone firm PCCW Ltd. rose 1.4 percent, China's second-largest mobile phone operator China Unicom gained 0.9 percent and China's largest personal computer maker Legend Group fell 1.7 percent.
Prices also ended a five-day rising streak on the South Korean Stock Exchange. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, which rose 12.99 points on Monday, slipped 3.59 points, or 0.5 percent, to 702.27.
Kookmin Bank lost 3.1 percent after South Korea's top retail lender said it planned to issue 10.58 million common shares to Goldman Sachs. The U.S. investment bank wants to convert bonds into equity, which will more than double its stake in Kookmin to 5.42 percent.
SK Telecom, the country's leading mobile carrier, fell 2 percent but Samsung SDI rose 1.7 percent.
Prices on the Taiwan Stock Exchange also fell. The Weighted Price Index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange, which rose 15.55 points Monday, lost 45.27 points, or 1 percent, to 4,677.89.
Taiwan Semiconductor fell 2.9 percent, but Macronix International jumped 4.3 percent after Intel raised prices on Macronix's niche product, flash memory chips, by 20 percent to 40 percent.
Elsewhere in the Pacific region, prices ended lower on the Australian Stock Exchange, pressured by some profit-taking in blue-chips. The All Ordinaries index, which gained 5.50 points Monday, lost 25.60 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,979.30.
