TOKYO, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks snapped a four-day winning streak Thursday as U.S. stock futures losing ground dented sentiment and saw investors opting to secure profits, although losses were capped as Japanese firms reporting solid earnings continued to find favor.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped 292.29 points, or 1.06 percent, from Wednesday to close the day at 27,241.31.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, lost 16.64 points, or 0.86 percent, to finish at 1,919.92.
Local brokers said that technology issues came under pressure after U.S. Nasdaq futures tumbled following Meta Platforms Inc., the parent organization of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, among other subsidiaries, reporting earnings well below median market expeditions.
"The Japanese market was dragged down by declines in U.S. futures this morning, which fell because of the losses in Meta shares outside trading hours," Takatoshi Itoshima, a strategist at Pictet Asset Management, was quoted as saying.
Toshikazu Horiuchi, an equity strategist at IwaiCosmo Securities Co., said that investors likely opted to secure profits following the market's four-day winning streak as U.S. shares may face pressure later in the day.
"Investors likely secured gains as they expect Wall Street shares to also be in a tight spot later in the day," Horiuchi, said, adding, "But the downside today was supported by market participants snapping up shares of Japanese companies that recently released solid earnings."
By the close of play, marine transportation, electric appliance and machinery-linked issues comprised those that declined the most, and issues that fell outpaced those that rose by 1,469 to 625 on the First Section, while 89 ended the day unchanged.
Technology shares losing ground included Advantest dropping 3.8 percent, while Tokyo Electron retreated 2.3 percent.
Panasonic fell 6.7 percent after reporting a third-quarter operating profit that missed market expectations, while Sony Group tumbled 6.1 percent on profit-taking and amid concerns over its gaming sector.
Air transportation issues were also among the day's decliners, with Japan Airlines dipping 1.9 percent, after its annual net loss came in higher than market expectations, while ANA Holdings ended the day 0.9 percent lower.
Nikkei heavyweight Fast Retailing weighed on the market, after the owner of casual clothing chain Uniqlo reported the previous day that its sales in January had dropped from a year ago.
On the main section on Thursday, 1,292.79 million shares changed hands, dropping from Wednesday's volume of 1,374.56 million shares.
The turnover on the penultimate trading day of the week came to 3,354.67 billion yen (29.25 billion U.S. dollars). ■