Roundup: Nikkei up 0.11 pct, but early gains lost on BOJ news, tepid factory output data
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E-mail Xinhua, April 30, 2014
Japan's Nikkei stock index ended up 0.11 percent Wednesday tracking Wall Street's overnight gains, but trading was lackluster ahead of a series of expected economic data and events, including the Bank of Japan chief's remarks on policy after the bell.
Brokers here said that the market started off brightly as U.S. shares performed robustly overnight and markets here were closed on Tuesday for a public holiday, but after an initial round of selling saw the yen climb to the lower 102 yen level, a bane for exporters who rely on a weak yen to boost repatriated profits, the index went in and out of negative territory, they said.
News from the government that Japan's industrial production rose 0.3 percent on month in March as firms tapered output due to the April 1 tax hike came in lower than median economists' expectations of a 0.5 percent increase.
Economists said that the falling output had dented export levels and soured the market mood for those holding long-term position and sent them to the sidelines to see how upcoming earnings come in, in the days ahead.
In addition, The BOJ announced in early afternoon trade that its latest policy meeting had concluded with the bank opting to maintain its ultraeasy policy rate and keep its target at 270 trillion yen (2.6 trillion U.S. dollars), which contributed to the yen's rise, brokers said.
As a whole, the BOJ's policy meeting did not set a major trend for the market as investors focused more on the bank's report on the outlook for economic growth and prices as well as BOJ chief Haruhiko Kuroda's press conference, both due after the market closed, Hiroaki Hiwada, strategist at Toyo Securities Co., said.
The Nikkei Stock Average ended having added 15.88 points from Monday to close at 14,304.11, while the broader Topix index gained 1.70 points, or 0.15 percent, to finish at 1,162.44.
Some exporters found traction however, with Canon adding 0.72 percent to 3,215 yen, while Toyota, the world's largest automaker, accelerated 0.78 percent to close at 5,516 yen.
Japan Display declined 6.25 percent to 630 yen, however, following its annual profit forecast being downwardly revised, but Kyocera Corp. climbed 3.4 percent to 4,807 yen, after the electronics and solar-panel maker reported a full-year profit that exceeded analysts' estimates.
Nomura said after the market closed, the fourth-quarter net income was 61.3 billion yen (598 million U.S. dollars), about 50 percent above median analysts' estimates of 41 billion yen. Kyocera was the biggest contributor to the market's gains Wednesday.
TDK lost 3 percent to 4,360 yen, following its net profit forecast for the current 2014 business year falling short of market expectations and NEC retreated 5.3 percent to 287 yen on disappointing earnings guidance.
Trading volume on Wednesday rose to 2.01 billion shares on the Tokyo Exchange's First Section, up from Monday's volume of 1.74 billion shares, with declining issues beating advancing ones by 919 to 753. Endi
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