Asian Economic News
Japanese Stock Market Ends In Negative Territory; Tech Stocks Slip
11/20/2009 4:15 AM ET
(RTTNews) -
The stock market in Japan ended in negative territory on Friday, dragged down by technology stocks after Dell reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results for the third quarter. Weak closing in Wall Street on fresh concerns about sustaining economic recovery and profit taking also impacted market sentiment.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index fell 51.79 points, or 0.5%, to 9497.68, while the broader Topix index of all First Section issues rose 1.00 point, or 0.1%, to 839.
On the economic front, the policy board of the Bank of Japan unanimously decided to retain the overnight call rate at 0.1%, in line with the expectations of economists. The last change in the rate was a 0.1% cut in interest rates at the December 2008 meeting.
In an accompanying statement, the central bank said, "Japan's economy is picking up mainly due to various policy measures taken at home and abroad, although the momentum of self-sustaining recovery in domestic private demand remains weak. In the conduct of monetary policy, the bank will aim to maintain the extremely accommodative financial environment."
Light sweet crude oil futures for January delivery ended at $78.47 a barrel in electronic trading, up $0.42 per barrel from previous close at $78.05 a barrel in New York on Thursday.
Technology stocks declined after Dell reported a 54% drop in net profit for the third quarter. Advantest fell 2.87% and Tokyo Electron lost 2.99%.
Automotive stocks ended lower following weaker closing in Wall Street on concerns about recovery. Toyota Motor Corp declined 1.43%, Suzuki Motor fell 1.44%, Nissan Motor lost 2.82%, Honda Motor slipped 0.55%, and Mitsubishi Motor slumped 3.28%.
Trading companies ended mixed following strength in local currency. Toyota Tsusho Corp. slipped 0.67%, Mitsui & Co. shed 0.61%, Mitsubishi Corp. edged down 0.31% and Itochu Corp. declined 0.33%. However, Sumitomo Corp. gained 0.82% and Marubeni Corp. added 0.45%.
Mitsubishi Chemicals, which announced plans to purchase Mitsubishi Rayon in a tender offer yesterday, gained 9.18% after revealing that it would fund the acquisition from internal accruals and bank loans. Mitsubishi Rayon, which surged more than 29% in the previous session, gained 4.84% on huge volume.
Banking stocks bucked the trend and ended higher, mostly on short covering. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial gained 3.49%, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial advanced 1.51%, Mizuho Financial rose 1.94% and Resona Holdings climbed 2.47%.
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