Nikkei Loses over 200 Points in Morning on Yen Rise

Tokyo, Aug. 11 (Jiji Press)--Stocks dived on the Tokyo Stock
Exchange Wednesday morning on the back of the yen's rise and an overnight fall on Wall Street, with the key Nikkei average giving up more than 200 points.

At the morning close, the 225-issue Nikkei stood down 217.90
points, or 2.28 pct, at 9,333.15 after falling to as low as 9,307.18 at one
point, the lowest level since July 22 on an intraday basis. On Tuesday, the
key market gauge slid 21.44 points, extending its losing streak to a third
market day.
The TOPIX index of all first-section issues was down 17.62 points,
or 2.06 pct, at 837.06 after losing 2.94 points the previous day.
The market was weighed down by the yen's continued strength against
other currencies, brokers said. The euro's fall below 112 yen helped stocks
accelerate their downswing, they added.
In addition, investor sentiment was dampened by disappointing
Japanese economic data released before the opening bell.
The month-on-month rise of 1.6 pct in seasonally adjusted key
machinery orders in June was smaller than expected, Kenichi Hirano,
operating officer of Tachibana Securities Co., said, adding that corporate
goods prices for July fell 0.1 pct from a year before against investor hopes
for a rise.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's closely watched policy-setting meeting
on Tuesday produced a result that was "within expectations," Hirano said.
"It was good that the dollar avoided a steep drop against the yen
after the Fed meeting," he said. But the Tokyo market was hit by the yen's
rise versus the euro and other factors, Hirano said.
Meanwhile, Toshiyuki Kanayama, market analyst at Monex Inc.'s
Financial Intelligence Department, said that the Fed's downward revision to
its economic assessment weighed on investor sentiment.
At the policy meeting, the U.S. central bank's Federal Open Market
Committee decided to keep constant the Fed's holdings of securities at the
current level by reinvesting proceeds from maturing securities such as
mortgage-backed securities in longer-term Treasury securities, in order to
support the economic recovery with price stability.
The Fed thus put on hold its exit from its unconventional measures
taken to help the economy cope with the global financial crisis.
Falling issues far outnumbered rising ones 1,525 to 70 on the TSE's
first section in the morning, while 62 issues were unchanged.
Half-day volume came to 810 million shares.

High-tech makers came under selling, with Sharp, Fanuc and Toshiba
losing 3.19 pct, 2.77 pct and 2.76 pct, respectively.
Automakers Toyota, Nissan and Honda were downbeat, along with tire
makers Bridgestone, Sumitomo Rubber Industries and Yokohama Rubber.
Utilities Tokyo Electric Power, Chubu Electric Power and Tokyo Gas
slid. Telecommunications carriers NTT, KDDI and Softbank also declined.
Machine tool maker Okuma hit a new year-to-date low after
government data showed Wednesday morning that key private-sector machinery
orders in July-September are expected to rise only 0.8 pct from the previous
quarter.
By contrast, chipmaking equipment maker Dainippon Screen Mfg.
gained 3.33 pct after announcing Tuesday that it enjoyed group operating and
recurring profits in April-June after year-before losses.