Japanese Stocks Plummet Ahead of Earnings
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The Nikkei 225 index slipped 38.29 points, or 0.3 percent, to 13,540.87 Thursday as cautious investors awaited the release of corporate earning results.
“The consensus is companies will report conservative forecasts but with perceptions that the credit crisis is easing, we look to be at a comfortable level for the overall market,” said Yoji Takeda, head of Asian investments at RBC Investment Management.
As worries about the global credit crunch starts to ease, Tokyo shares will likely be anchored around the 13,000 mark over the coming weeks.
Among blue chip stocks, shares in Japan’s top automaker, Toyota Motor Corp., edged down 0.2 percent to 5,130.00 yen.
The company on Wednesday announced its global sales in the January-March quarter rose 2.7 percent from a year ago to 2.41 million vehicles, beating its U.S. rival and the world’s top automaker General Motors, with 2.25 million units.
Shares in Japan’s No.2 automaker, Honda Motor Co. rose 0.3 percent to 3,210.00 yen, but Nissan Motor closed 0.5 percent lower to 870.00 yen.
The Topix index of all the Tokyo Stock Exchange First Section issues fell 6.82 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,307.57.
In currencies, the dollar slipped against the yen, standing at 103.52 midafternoon in Tokyo from 103.68 late Wednesday in New York. The euro was quoted at 1.5851 to the dollar from 1.5896.
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