Tokyo stock indexes ended their first autumn trading with slight gains, data showed on Sept. 2.
The yen’s weakening against the U.S. dollar helped lift major Japanese automakers, but much of the earlier gains were wiped out as some traders began taking profits.
The Nikkei 225 index, the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s leading index of 225 of Japan’s largest companies, rose 53.12 points, or 0.14 percent, to 38,700.87. The Topix index, which includes the largest-cap companies, rose 3.36 points, or 0.12 percent, to 2,715.99.
On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the number of shares that fell in price (2,109) exceeded the number that closed in positive territory (1,517), and the prices of 255 shares remained practically unchanged.
In the prime stock market, the leaders of growth were banks, transport equipment companies and non-ferrous metals.
Top gainers: IHI Corp (+5.52%), Credit Saison (+5.43%) and Fujikura shares, which hit an all-time high of 4.94%.
The worst: Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma (-6.13%), Chugai Pharmaceutical (-6.07%) and Yamato Holdings (-3.37%).
Stock indexes opened higher in Tokyo trading, with the Nikkei briefly topping 39,000 for the first time in about a month, as automakers bought into a weaker yen and technology stocks lagged their U.S. peers late last week.
But at some point in the afternoon, the index entered negative territory as the dollar briefly fell and investors booked profits ahead of US economic data.
Meanwhile, Asia-Pacific markets fell on Monday as investors weighed Chinese business activity data released over the weekend.
“The direction of the market this month will largely depend on the U.S. economic outlook,” said Masahiro Ichikawa, chief market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Co., after stocks fell globally last month amid concerns about a possible recession in the world’s largest economy.
“If economic data reinforces hopes for a soft landing, Japanese stocks could continue to rise steadily, potentially pushing the Nikkei towards the 40,000 level,” Ichikawa added.
This week promises to be packed with important economic data. The highlight will be the US employment report, which could shape the Federal Reserve’s future interest rate decisions. Job growth is expected to be around 165,000 and the unemployment rate is expected to fall to 4.2%.
The data due out on Friday will be particularly important for the Federal Reserve. A weak report could accelerate the pace of rate cuts, which in turn will hurt the labor market and the U.S. economy as a whole.
Among the most traded stocks in Japan, the leader for the 95th trading day is Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp (110.45M) (290th consecutive session in the top five). The second place was immediately taken by the shares of Japan’s largest energy company Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) (54.02M) (1d), which returned to the top. The third position was taken by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (40.58M) (21d). Shares of the country’s leading financial group Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (35.94M) (27d) fell to fourth place. The top five trading leaders were rounded out by the stock of the automobile giant Toyota Motor (24.73M) (2d).
Total trading volume of Japanese market leaders’ shares today fell again, amounting to 265.72 million, missing the daily average figures for July (399.74 million), and even less so for August (427.02 million) for the 13th day in a row.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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