Technology stocks helped send the Tokyo equities markets lower on Tuesday. The Nikkei 225 and the Topix index each lost 0.5 percent on the session, to 15,473.82 and 1,585.85 respectively.

The electronics sector was down on a strong yen and on declines in tech stocks in New York overnight. Sony dropped 0.2 percent to ¥5,040. Advantest declined by 0.9 percent to ¥12,020, while Matsushita was down to ¥2,350, 1.7 percent lower on the session.

Games developer Namco Bandai dropped 1.3 percent to ¥1,695 on the news that Zapf Creation has recommended that its shareholders reject Namco’s bid for the German dollmaker. Zapf is said to be looking for higher bids.

After Nikko Citigroup has withdrawn from its position as one of 15 underwriters for Japan Airlines’ new share issue, worth $1.9 billion, JAL’s shares declined by 2.6 percent to ¥271. The new issue will dilute existing shares by 30 to 40 percent and could be sold below current market prices in order to create adequate demand, making the issue controversial.

Japanese equities markets were up slightly on Friday as domestic stocks tended to rise while export-focused companies were generally down on the day as the yen gained value in relation to the US dollar.

The Nikkei closed up 0.1 percent to 16,101.91, while the Topix index gained 0.4 percent to 1,647.74.

Among the sectors to see losses on the day were the carmakers and the electrical machinery manufacturers. Toshiba dropped 1.5 percent to ¥661, while rival Hitachi fell 1.1 percent to ¥798. Honda lost 2 percent to ¥6,890, but Toyota declined a smaller 0.3 percent to ¥6,330.

Also seeing losses on the day was toymaker Namco Bandai, which fell 12.7 percent to ¥1,440 on the announcement that it had cut its net profit forecast for the 2005/06 fiscal year in half.

More news indicating a continuing recovery in the Japanese economy sent domestic shares higher, with banking up 1.7 percent as a sector and the securities sector growing by 2.5 percent.

Mitsubishi UFJ gained 1.8 percent to ¥1,660,000 as investors see the possibility of rising interest rates as good for bank profits.

In the securities sector, Nikko Cordial was up 4.8 percent to ¥1,847, while Daiwa Securities gained 3 percent to ¥1,398.