Roundup: Tokyo stocks close at 5-week low, exporters hit by strong yen
TOKYO, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 1. 78 percent on Tuesday as a stronger yen versus the U.S. dollar led to broad scale selling in the afternoon, sparking a sharp decline and erasing earlier gains.
rolex fakeJapan's key benchmark Nikkei posted its lowest close since Dec. 21, losing 187.41 points from Monday to 10,325.28. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange dropped 18.19 points, or 1.95 percent, to 916.40, marking a two- month closing low for the exchange.
China's implementation of increased reserve requirements for some banks and initiatives to curtail excessive lending, aimed at preventing inflation, weighed on investor sentiment Tuesday as Asian stocks fell on the news.
"The China news made investors worry that hot money might shrink, and that is likely prompting them to lock in profits or close positions," said Mitsuo Shimizu, deputy general manager at Cosmo Securities.
"But the market is probably fretting about the stronger yen more than other factors, at least for now."
Brokers indicated the yen strengthened after the news from China, with the U.S. dollar falling below the 90-yen mark, retreating from its intraday high of 90.56 yen, causing investor consternation towards Japanese export-related issues. A stronger yen hurts exporters' profits made abroad when they are repatriated.
News from Japan's central bank on Tuesday saying it will hold its key interest rate steady at 0.1 percent in an effort to combat deflation and support the nation's economy to recover, was widely expected and had little impact on the market, brokers said.
Sony Corp. lost 4.8 percent to 3,000 yen and memory device maker TDK Corp. fell 3.5 percent to 5,800 yen. Telecommunications company KDDI Corp. was the biggest drag on the Nikkei Tuesday, plunging 8.62 percent to 482,500 yen, the largest drop for the firm in 15-months.
Bucking the trend however was Pioneer Corp. who, following recent news reports saying it plans to increase its capital through a public share offering worth around 20 billion yen in March, gained 1.18 percent to 338 yen.
Toyota Motor Corp. fell 2.5 percent to 3,870 yen and Honda Motor Co. Ltd., also hurt by a strong yen, lost 2.7 percent to 3, 090 yen. Isuzu Motors Ltd. skidded down 3.01 percent to 193 yen and Mazda Motor Corp. fell 2.88 percent to 236 yen.
Human hair wigsBy sector shipping shares led the decline on Tuesday with Nippon Yusen K.K. dropping 3.6 percent to 324 yen on concern shipping demand will wane and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. sank 4.62 percent to 330 yen. Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd. retreated 4.0 percent to close at 576 yen.
Industrial machinery maker Komatsu Ltd., which counts China as its fastest growing market, lost 2.5 percent to close at 1,876 yen, whilst industrial farming machine maker Kubota Corp. fell 2.86 percent to 850 yen. Mitsui Heavy Industries Ltd. dropped 2.14 percent to 321 yen and rival Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd. fell 4. 43 percent to 474 yen.
Meanwhile, Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. lost 3.53 percent to 1,285 yen, whist Nippon Mining Holdings Inc. shed 1.26 percent to 393 yen. Nippon Oil Corp. closed Tuesday in negative territory, losing 1.39 percent to 425 yen.
Data released Monday by Suzuki Motor Corp.
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