Sony shares dip on report to buy Ericsson phone venture stake

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TOKYO (Global Markets) - Sony Corp (6758.T) shares fell 1.8 percent in early trading after The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the firm is nearing a deal to buy Telefon AB LM Ericsson's (ERICb.ST) half of their smartphone venture.

Talks were ongoing and could break apart at any time, the paper said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Both Ericsson and Sony declined to comment on the report. The dip in Sony's shares to 1,444 yen compared with a gain of 1.2 percent in the benchmark Nikkei 225.

(Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Joseph Radford)