ID :
183068
Thu, 05/19/2011 - 07:47
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Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/183068
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Tokyo Stocks Erase Early Gains to End Morning Lower
Tokyo, May 19 (Jiji Press)--Stocks failed to hold on to their early gains on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Thursday morning, as buying on the back of overnight rallies of overseas stock markets proved short-lived.
At the morning close, the 225-issue Nikkei average stood down 10.91 points, or 0.11 pct, at 9,651.17. On Wednesday, the key market gauge rose 95.06 points.
The TOPIX index of all first-section issues was down 1.75 points, or 0.21 pct, at 836.21, after gaining 9.11 points the previous day.
The Nikkei average gained nearly 70 points in early trading due to buying prompted by the Dow Jones industrial average's first advance in four trading days, as well as by rebounds of key European stock market gauges.
Tokyo stocks also drew support from a sharp upturn of key crude oil futures on the New York market, which led to speculation that investors may have become somewhat less risk-averse for now, brokers said.
After the initial wave of buying ran its course, however, the Nikkei became top-heavy and gradually erased its gains by the morning close.
"U.S. stocks managed to rebound partly because there were no key economic data announcements last night, while oil and other commodity prices only regained stability after a major correction," said Yumi Nishimura, senior market analyst at Daiwa Securities Co.
"These are very weak as a buy factor for the Tokyo market," she said.
Analysts said a bigger-than-expected fall of Japan's gross domestic product in January-March, announced just before Thursday's market opening, did not provide a fresh selling incentive for Tokyo equities because investors were already aware of how far corporate activities were affected by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami after most listed companies finished releasing their earnings reports for fiscal 2010.
But they said the GDP report served to cap the market's upside.
In the final quarter of fiscal 2010, Japan's seasonally adjusted real GDP shrank an annualized 3.7 pct, worse than an average forecast of a 2.3 pct fall among 11 economic research institutes polled by Jiji Press.
Declining issues outnumbered rising ones 797 to 641 on the TSE's first section in the morning, while 204 issues were unchanged.
Half-day volume came to 781 million shares.
Megabanks came under selling, including Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui.
Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power suffered hefty losses.
Automakers Honda and Nissan also fell, as did electronics makers Sony and Panasonic.
On the plus side were oil developers Inpex and Japan Petroleum Exploration, as well as trading houses Mitsubishi and Mitsui.
At the morning close, the 225-issue Nikkei average stood down 10.91 points, or 0.11 pct, at 9,651.17. On Wednesday, the key market gauge rose 95.06 points.
The TOPIX index of all first-section issues was down 1.75 points, or 0.21 pct, at 836.21, after gaining 9.11 points the previous day.
The Nikkei average gained nearly 70 points in early trading due to buying prompted by the Dow Jones industrial average's first advance in four trading days, as well as by rebounds of key European stock market gauges.
Tokyo stocks also drew support from a sharp upturn of key crude oil futures on the New York market, which led to speculation that investors may have become somewhat less risk-averse for now, brokers said.
After the initial wave of buying ran its course, however, the Nikkei became top-heavy and gradually erased its gains by the morning close.
"U.S. stocks managed to rebound partly because there were no key economic data announcements last night, while oil and other commodity prices only regained stability after a major correction," said Yumi Nishimura, senior market analyst at Daiwa Securities Co.
"These are very weak as a buy factor for the Tokyo market," she said.
Analysts said a bigger-than-expected fall of Japan's gross domestic product in January-March, announced just before Thursday's market opening, did not provide a fresh selling incentive for Tokyo equities because investors were already aware of how far corporate activities were affected by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami after most listed companies finished releasing their earnings reports for fiscal 2010.
But they said the GDP report served to cap the market's upside.
In the final quarter of fiscal 2010, Japan's seasonally adjusted real GDP shrank an annualized 3.7 pct, worse than an average forecast of a 2.3 pct fall among 11 economic research institutes polled by Jiji Press.
Declining issues outnumbered rising ones 797 to 641 on the TSE's first section in the morning, while 204 issues were unchanged.
Half-day volume came to 781 million shares.
Megabanks came under selling, including Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui.
Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power suffered hefty losses.
Automakers Honda and Nissan also fell, as did electronics makers Sony and Panasonic.
On the plus side were oil developers Inpex and Japan Petroleum Exploration, as well as trading houses Mitsubishi and Mitsui.
