Japanese shares track Wall Street lower as coronavirus cases mount

TOKYO, July 8 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average edged lower on Wednesday, tracking Wall Street's overnight losses, as investors monitored a rise in new virus cases across the world that could derail a nascent economic recovery.

The benchmark Nikkei share average fell 0.19% to 22,571.55 by the midday break after moving in and out of positive territory, with 102 advancers against 120 decliners.

New coronavirus cases continue to climb globally, with California reporting a record rise for a single day and Australia's second-biggest city Melbourne re-imposing lockdown measures on Tuesday.

On the domestic front, capital Tokyo has been registering fresh cases exceeding 100, but Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Wednesday a new state of emergency for the coronavirus is not needed.

The broader Topix inched up 0.06% to 1,572.73 by the recess, with about half of the 33 sector sub-indexes on the Tokyo exchange trading higher.

Japan Display Inc, a main supplier of liquid crystal display panel for iPhones, slumped 4.08% after a media report that Apple Inc will use OLED screens for its fifth-generation iPhones this year.

Shares of OLED manufacturers performed strongly, with Hodogaya Chemical Co Ltd soaring 16.63%, Sumitomo Chemical Co Ltd rising 1.23% and Idemitsu Kosan Co Ltd edging 0.64% higher.

Elsewhere on the market, mall operator Aeon Mall Co Ltd , which had temporarily closed its facilities following the coronavirus outbreak, dropped 3.59%.

The company posted a group net loss of 13.48 billion yen for the March-May quarter and projected a 4 billion yen loss for the fiscal year ending February. (Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)