By Aiko Hayashi
TOKYO, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average hit a four-week low on Monday before recouping some ground, as exporters such as Toyota Motor Corp slid on a stronger yen and after Google's revenue figures failed to live up to some bullish expectations.
Earnings-related media reports prompted much of the action in individual stocks, with Canon climbing on a report that its operating profit appears to have topped initial forecasts due to robust camera demand.
The market received support from gains in U.S. stock futures and a halt in the advance of the yen.
'Gains in U.S. stock futures prompted investors to expect a rebound on Wall Street after sharp falls, while buying on dips appeared as the Nikkei has fallen below its 25-day moving average, which erased worries about overheating,' said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management.
On Friday, U.S. stocks capped their worst three-day slide in
10 months on fears a White House plan to limit risk
taking by banks will cut profits and on uncertainty about the confirmation of Ben Bernanke for another term as Federal Reserve chairman.
The benchmark Nikkei slipped 0.3 percent to
10,554.31, below its 25
day moving average of around 10,600. The index earlier fell as much as 1.7 percent to 10,414.58, its lowest level since Dec. 24.
The broader Topix fell 0.3 percent to 938.19.
'Good earnings in the U.S and Japan have been already factored in, but if reports that exceed market expectations come out, that will likely accelerate buying by investors who are ready to snap up stocks at lows,' said Ichiyoshi's Akino.
TECHS TICK LOWER
Shares of tech firms fell after Google Inc posted revenue growth that lagged some of Wall Street's most bullish expectations, although its profit was higher than expected.
Other disappointing news on the technology front came from Advanced Micro Devices Inc, which warned that sales will be down in the first quarter of 2010.
Tokyo Electron, the world's second-largest maker of chip-producing equipment, slipped 0.4 percent to 5,750 yen despite saying on Friday it would resume the construction of a plant in northern Japan as it sees a recovery in the market.
But Tokyo analysts said that while they could not ignore Friday's losses on Wall Street, which capped three days of falls that left all the indexes down more then 3 percent on the week, a big part of the falls in the U.S. and Japan was likely to have been profit-taking.
'These results came just when markets were poised for profit-taking, and (President Barack) Obama's bank proposals fed into this mood as well. Any events will be used as an excuse to take profits,' said Hiroaki Osakabe, a fund manager at Chibagin Asset Management.
Some analysts felt foreign buying could be helping limit the Nikkei's slide, noting that banks and other big-cap shares did not appear to be down as much as might be expected.
Prior to the start of trade, buy orders from foreign brokers outnumbered sell orders by 100,000 shares.
The dollar was steady at 90.12 yen, after earlier hitting a one-month low of 89.71 yen. Investors fret about a stronger yen as it eats into exporters' profits when they are repatriated.
Toyota slid 1.5 percent to 3,995 yen and Honda Motor Co fell 1.1 percent to 3,195 yen.
In earnings-related news, Mitsui Chemicals lost nearly 3 percent after the Nikkei newspaper said the company likely broke even on an operating basis for the three months ended in December, against analysts' expectations for a profit of several billion yen.
Kyowa Hakko Kirin declined 3.7 percent to 926 yen after the drugmaker said its nine-month profit was likely to have come in lower than an earlier estimate, hit by weaker sales and drug license fees.
Nissha Printing Co Ltd tumbled 7.5 percent to 4,095 yen after the world's largest maker of small and mid-sized touch panels cut its annual earnings forecast by 19 percent, citing sharp price falls.
But Canon rose 0.9 percent to 3,805 yen, while Asahi Glass Co gained 2.3 percent to 962 yen on a report that it will likely beat its annual operating profit forecast in 2009.
(Reporting by Aiko Hayashi; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
((aiko.hayashi@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: aiko.hayashi.reuters.com@reuters.net; +81 3 6441 1802))
((If you have a query or comment on this story send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com))
Keywords: MARKETS JAPAN STOCKS Reuters Terminal users can see other related news and rates by double-clicking on: All Nikkei indices All shares listed on Nikkei-225 N225 index TOPIX index Nikkei Japan 1000 TOPIX sector data Nikkei 300 index TOPIX futures data Osaka N225 data Chicago N225 data Top 30 by volume Top 30 by value Total volume Total value 1st section sector RICs All TSE weighted avg Top 30 gainers by pct Top 30 losers by pct Top 30 net gainers Top 30 net losers Active Japanese stocks Japan economic indicators ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS: Pan-Asia Japan S.Korea S.E. Asia Hong Kong Taiwan Australia/NZ India China OTHER MARKETS: Wall Street Gold Currency Eurostocks Oil JP bonds ADR Report LME metals US bonds Stocks News US Stocks News Europe DIARIES & DATA: IPO diary & data Asia earnings diary U.S. earnings diary European diary Japan diary Wall Street Week Ahead Eurostocks Week Ahead TOP NEWS: For top Asian company news: Top News Japan U.S. company news Europe company news Forex news Global Economy news All Equity news Tech, Media, Telecoms Banking news Politics/General news Asia Macro data A multimedia version of Reuters Top News is available at: http://topnews.session.rservices.com LIVE PRICES & DATA: World stocks Currencies Dow Jones/NASDAQ Debt FTSE 100 LME price overview Yen/dollar (Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit http://topnews.session.rservices.com * BridgeStation: view story .134 * Reuters Plus: from your WebDSS screen For more information on Top News, visit http://topnews.reuters.com) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
TOKYO, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average hit a four-week low on Monday before recouping some ground, as exporters such as Toyota Motor Corp slid on a stronger yen and after Google's revenue figures failed to live up to some bullish expectations.
Earnings-related media reports prompted much of the action in individual stocks, with Canon climbing on a report that its operating profit appears to have topped initial forecasts due to robust camera demand.
The market received support from gains in U.S. stock futures and a halt in the advance of the yen.
'Gains in U.S. stock futures prompted investors to expect a rebound on Wall Street after sharp falls, while buying on dips appeared as the Nikkei has fallen below its 25-day moving average, which erased worries about overheating,' said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management.
On Friday, U.S. stocks capped their worst three-day slide in
10 months on fears a White House plan to limit risk
taking by banks will cut profits and on uncertainty about the confirmation of Ben Bernanke for another term as Federal Reserve chairman.
The benchmark Nikkei slipped 0.3 percent to
10,554.31, below its 25
day moving average of around 10,600. The index earlier fell as much as 1.7 percent to 10,414.58, its lowest level since Dec. 24.
The broader Topix fell 0.3 percent to 938.19.
'Good earnings in the U.S and Japan have been already factored in, but if reports that exceed market expectations come out, that will likely accelerate buying by investors who are ready to snap up stocks at lows,' said Ichiyoshi's Akino.
TECHS TICK LOWER
Shares of tech firms fell after Google Inc posted revenue growth that lagged some of Wall Street's most bullish expectations, although its profit was higher than expected.
Other disappointing news on the technology front came from Advanced Micro Devices Inc, which warned that sales will be down in the first quarter of 2010.
Tokyo Electron, the world's second-largest maker of chip-producing equipment, slipped 0.4 percent to 5,750 yen despite saying on Friday it would resume the construction of a plant in northern Japan as it sees a recovery in the market.
But Tokyo analysts said that while they could not ignore Friday's losses on Wall Street, which capped three days of falls that left all the indexes down more then 3 percent on the week, a big part of the falls in the U.S. and Japan was likely to have been profit-taking.
'These results came just when markets were poised for profit-taking, and (President Barack) Obama's bank proposals fed into this mood as well. Any events will be used as an excuse to take profits,' said Hiroaki Osakabe, a fund manager at Chibagin Asset Management.
Some analysts felt foreign buying could be helping limit the Nikkei's slide, noting that banks and other big-cap shares did not appear to be down as much as might be expected.
Prior to the start of trade, buy orders from foreign brokers outnumbered sell orders by 100,000 shares.
The dollar was steady at 90.12 yen, after earlier hitting a one-month low of 89.71 yen. Investors fret about a stronger yen as it eats into exporters' profits when they are repatriated.
Toyota slid 1.5 percent to 3,995 yen and Honda Motor Co fell 1.1 percent to 3,195 yen.
In earnings-related news, Mitsui Chemicals lost nearly 3 percent after the Nikkei newspaper said the company likely broke even on an operating basis for the three months ended in December, against analysts' expectations for a profit of several billion yen.
Kyowa Hakko Kirin declined 3.7 percent to 926 yen after the drugmaker said its nine-month profit was likely to have come in lower than an earlier estimate, hit by weaker sales and drug license fees.
Nissha Printing Co Ltd tumbled 7.5 percent to 4,095 yen after the world's largest maker of small and mid-sized touch panels cut its annual earnings forecast by 19 percent, citing sharp price falls.
But Canon rose 0.9 percent to 3,805 yen, while Asahi Glass Co gained 2.3 percent to 962 yen on a report that it will likely beat its annual operating profit forecast in 2009.
(Reporting by Aiko Hayashi; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
((aiko.hayashi@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: aiko.hayashi.reuters.com@reuters.net; +81 3 6441 1802))
((If you have a query or comment on this story send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com))
Keywords: MARKETS JAPAN STOCKS Reuters Terminal users can see other related news and rates by double-clicking on: All Nikkei indices All shares listed on Nikkei-225 N225 index TOPIX index Nikkei Japan 1000 TOPIX sector data Nikkei 300 index TOPIX futures data Osaka N225 data Chicago N225 data Top 30 by volume Top 30 by value Total volume Total value 1st section sector RICs All TSE weighted avg Top 30 gainers by pct Top 30 losers by pct Top 30 net gainers Top 30 net losers Active Japanese stocks Japan economic indicators ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS: Pan-Asia Japan S.Korea S.E. Asia Hong Kong Taiwan Australia/NZ India China OTHER MARKETS: Wall Street Gold Currency Eurostocks Oil JP bonds ADR Report LME metals US bonds Stocks News US Stocks News Europe DIARIES & DATA: IPO diary & data Asia earnings diary U.S. earnings diary European diary Japan diary Wall Street Week Ahead Eurostocks Week Ahead TOP NEWS: For top Asian company news: Top News Japan U.S. company news Europe company news Forex news Global Economy news All Equity news Tech, Media, Telecoms Banking news Politics/General news Asia Macro data A multimedia version of Reuters Top News is available at: http://topnews.session.rservices.com LIVE PRICES & DATA: World stocks Currencies Dow Jones/NASDAQ Debt FTSE 100 LME price overview Yen/dollar (Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit http://topnews.session.rservices.com * BridgeStation: view story .134 * Reuters Plus: from your WebDSS screen For more information on Top News, visit http://topnews.reuters.com) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
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