Tokyo stocks regained some ground by Tuesday afternoon after dropping more than one percent earlier in the day, with technology stocks like Sharp Corp <6753.T> getting a boost from rises in Asian peers. Foreign investors had sold tech shares, particularly liquid crystal display manufacturers and chip-related issues, partly due to concerns about possible slowing demand. The Nikkei <.N225> was 0.26 percent lower at 11,462.16 by 0457 GMT. It had fallen as low as 11,349.43 during the morning session. The broader TOPIX index <.TOPX> was down 0.32 percent at 1,154.82. "Taiwan has done a nice sharp turnaround which might be helping our LCD plays," said Michael Coates, director of equity sales at KBC Financial Products. The TAIEX <.TWII> was up one percent in the afternoon as was the South Korean benchmark KOSPI index <.KSII>. Foreign buying lifted Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS>, the world's largest memory chip maker, which rose 1.52 percent.
After two days of losses on bearish reports that forecast slower-than-expected demand for LCD and chips, Sharp, the world's largest maker of LCD televisions, climbed backed into positive territory and was up 0.82 percent at 1,724 yen. But chips-to-computers conglomerate NEC Corp <6701.T> and Tokyo Electron <8035.T>, the world's second-biggest chip equipment maker, remained lower. NEC lost 2.64 percent to 737 yen while Tokyo Electron was down 1.02 percent at 5,800 yen. Trade was limited as investors awaited the U.S. consumer price index due later in the day to see if a rise in May exceeded expectations of a 0.4 percent increase. A larger increase could mean that U.S. interest rates may rise more than expected, possibly cutting demand for Japan's goods in its largest export market.///