(Updates with closing prices)

By Junko Fujita

TOKYO, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average

fell nearly 2% on Tuesday, as investors sold Advantest ( ADTTF ) and

SoftBank Group after recent sharp rallies in both stocks.

The Nikkei fell 1.74% at 51,497.2. The broader

Topix lost 0.65% to 3,310.14.

Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest ( ADTTF ) lost

5.86% and technology investor SoftBank Group fell

7.04%, becoming the biggest drag on the index.

"Investors sold those stocks as they rose sharply in the

past sessions," said Naoki Fujiwara, senior fund manager at

Shinkin Asset Management.

"Particularly, Advantest ( ADTTF ) rose to a daily limit high last

week on a strong outlook. The market is not expecting any news

from the company itself for a while," he said.

Overall market momentum however remains firm, supported

by the strong performance of U.S. technology stocks such as

Amazon ( AMZN ), said Shuutarou Yasuda, a market analyst at Tokai

Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq indexes closed higher on Monday,

with artificial intelligence-related deals driving much of the

gains. Amazon ( AMZN ) rose 4% after announcing a $38 billion

deal with OpenAI.

Japan's stock market was closed for a public holiday on

Monday.

On Tuesday, Tokyo Electron ( TOELF ) jumped 1.78% after the

chip-making equipment maker on Friday hiked its operating profit

forecast by 2.8% for the year ending March 2026.

Sumitomo Electric, which makes fiber optic products

used by AI data centres, jumped 7.29% after the company raised

its annual net profit forecast by 18.7% to 230 billion yen

($1.53 billion).

Of more than 1,600 stocks trading on the Tokyo Stock

Exchange's prime market, 52% rose, 44% fell, while 2% traded

flat.

($1 = 150.7800 yen)