Japan's Nikkei falls a 2nd day, led lower by chip shares
SoftBank Group plunged 8.29 per cent while Advantest , a maker of chip-testing equipment, lost 5.4 per cent.
The losses came after tech-heavy Nasdaq sank in US trading overnight, with Nvidia sliding 3.5 per cent, the biggest drop in nearly four months.
The Nikkei 225 Index lost 1.1 per cent to 43,047.25 in early trading. The broader Topix was down 0.2 per cent.
There were 130 advancers on the Nikkei index against 92 decliners.
The Nikkei will likely ease off recent record highs toward year-end, according to strategists in a Reuters poll.
The index on Tuesday surpassed last week's previous intraday record to touch 43,876.42. It is forecast to slip back to 42,000 at the end of December, according to the median estimate of 18 analysts polled August 8-18.
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