Nikkei falls for 4th session on Yen’s rise

January 29, 2018

Tokyo- The benchmark Nikkei average fell for the fourth straight session on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Monday, weighed down by the yen's rise against the dollar.

The 225-issue Nikkei average shed 2.54 points, or 0.01 percent, to end at 23,629.34. On Friday, the key market gauge lost 37.61 points.

The TOPIX index of all first-section issues finished up 1.06 points, or 0.06 percent, at 1,880.45, after retreating 5.17 points the previous trading day.

Tokyo stocks got off to a firmer start after all three major US stock indexes--the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index--rewrote their closing highs on Friday.

The Tokyo market gathered steam backed by brisk earnings reports by some Japanese companies, pushing up the Nikkei average by over 150 points by mid-morning, brokers said.

The benchmark index, however, took a sharp downturn to fall into negative territory in early afternoon trading, as investors moved to cash in gains in view of the yen's strengthening against the dollar.

The Nikkei struggled for direction for the rest of trading at around Friday's closing level, with profit-taking and buying on dips vying with each other, brokers said.

The TOPIX, meanwhile, stayed in positive territory almost throughout the day.

"The stronger yen weighed on the day's market," said Chihiro Ota, general manager for investment research and investor services at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc.

The yen was supported by the lingering effects of remarks by Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda in Davos, Switzerland, on Friday that Japan's inflation is "finally" moving close to the central bank's 2 percnt target, according to market sources.

The dollar regained strength to some extent toward mid-morning. But its failure to recover 109 yen prompted investors to sell stocks to take profits, said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Co.

Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities Co., pointed out that the yen's appreciation particularly dampened foreign players' buying sentiment.

Despite the Nikkei's weaker finish, rising issues outnumbered falling ones 1,129 to 828 in the TSE's first section, while 102 issues were unchanged.

Volume fell to 1,326 million shares, from 1,534 million shares on Friday.

Daito Trust Construction lost 3.60 percent following the condominium builder's profit warning Monday for the year through March.

Also on the minus side were game giant Nintendo and cosmetics maker Shiseido.

By contrast, Shin-Etsu Chemical jumped 4.64 percent on a rosy profit estimate for the same year, released on Friday.

Medical information provider M3 was also bought, thanks to its robust earnings results for April-December last year.

In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key March contract on the Nikkei average fell 20 points to 23,610. Jiji Press