Tokyo, Feb. 4 (Jiji Press)–Stocks ceded further ground on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Wednesday morning, as the dollar’s continued weakness weighed on shares of major high technology firms andautomakers.
At the morning close, the 225-issue Nikkei average stood down 128.16 points, or 1.2 pct, fro Tuesday at 10,513.76, after hitting a fresh five-week intraday low of 10,491.93 in late morning trading. The average last moved below 10,500 on Dec. 29. On Tuesday, the Nikkei lost 134.81 points.
The TOPIX index of all first-section issues was down 11.90 points, or 1.1 pct, at 1,031.38. The index finished off 6.18 points in the previous session.
“The dollar’s further slide is putting a psychological damper on the Tokyo stock market,” said Nagayuki Yamagishi, senior equity manager at UFJ Tsubasa Securities Co.
In London overnight, the dollar sagged to 105.22 yen, the lowest level since September 2000, before regaining ground later on what appeared to be yen-selling intervention by Japanese monetary authorities. In Tokyo, the greenback stayed around 105.50 yen.(MORE)Tokyo Stocks Further Down in Morning on Weaker Dollar
“Investors find it difficult to make active moves this week, as they await a series of potentially market-affecting events like a meeting of Group of Seven top finance officials in Florida on Friday and Saturday, and a U.S. employment report for January, due out Friday,” said Kenichi Hirano, equity general manager at Tachibana Securities Co.
Amid a strong wait-and-see mood, hedge funds’ short-term moves have been dominating the market, causing wild swings in Tokyo stocks in the recent sessions, brokers said.
Declining issues outpaced gainers 1,033 to 348 on the TSE’s first section in the morning, while 146 issues were flat.
Half-day volume came to 552 million shares.
Alongside the dollar’s weakness, heavy selling of major banking groups undermined the market, brokers said.
The Big Four banking groups, Mizuho, Mitsubishi Tokyo, UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui, all suffered losses amid growing nervousness over the Financial Services Agency’s planned special inspection of major banks’ loan portfolios this month.(MORE)Tokyo Stocks Further Down in Morning on Weaker Dollar
The high technology sector met with broad selling. Hitachi, Sharp and Matsushita Electric Industrial retreated, as did Advantest and TDK.
Among a handful of winners in the sector were Sony and Canon.
Major automakers Toyota, Nissan and Honda were lower.
But investors continued to hunt Isuzu, the most actively traded issue in the TSE’s first section in the morning, after the truck maker released upbeat April-December earnings on Monday.
Also on the sunny side were telecommunications carriers NTT, KDDI and Vodafone.END
