Business

Monday February 6, 2012

Japanese shares ro remain in tight range this week


TOKYO: JAPANESE shares will likely remain in a tight range this week after a flurry of corporate earnings forecast downgrades eroded market sentiment, dealers said last Friday.

“The yen remains at high levels while many companies have revised down their full-year forecasts, which has deteriorated market sentiment a great deal,” said Toshihiko Matsuno, the research head at SMBC Friend Securities.

“We are looking to policy-making meetings scheduled next week, namely that of the European Central Bank,” he said.

“Other than that, we don't see many incentives,” he said, adding the Nikkei index was likely to trade in a range between 8,700 and a tad below 9,000.

The week ended on February 3, the Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange moved little, falling 0.11%, or 9.29 points, to 8,831.93, with the broader Topix Index of all first-section issues down 0.06%, or 0.44 points, to 760.69.

Japan's Panasonic last Friday warned it would see its worst-ever net loss of 780bil (US$10.2bil) for the year to March, blaming the strong yen, flooding in Thailand, and acquisition costs, dealers said.

Last Thursday, Sony Corporation said it was more than doubling its full-year net loss forecast to US$2.9bil, after announcing its chief executive Howard Stringer would step aside.

Sharp said on Wednesday, it expected a full-year net loss of US$3.8bil. AFP

  • E-mail this story
  • Print this story
  • Bookmark and Share