Tokyo Stocks Slip By Break As Strong Yen Weighs

Sumaira FH Published August 08, 2017 | 01:30 PM

Tokyo stocks turned down by the break on Tuesday as a stronger yen hit exporters and tech giant SoftBank

TOKYO, Aug 8 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 08th Aug, 2017 ) : Tokyo stocks turned down by the break on Tuesday as a stronger Yen hit exporters and tech giant SoftBank, a market heavyweight, slipped into negative territory.

SoftBank shares fell as it announced a dive in April-June net profit after the market close on Monday. "Investors are continuing to parse individual stocks' earnings, but SoftBank is dragging on the overall market," said Hiroaki Hiwada, a strategist at Toyo Securities.

Trading was also lacklustre owing to the summer holidays, he told Bloomberg news. On forex markets, the yen inched higher, denting the competitiveness of Japanese exporters and their repatriated profits.

The Dollar was trading at 110.65 yen, down from 110.76 yen in New York. "The dollar's downtrend continues in Currency trade, putting a drag on the Japanese stock market," Okasan Securities said in a commentary.

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.32 percent, or 63.72 points, to sit at 19,992.

17 at the lunch break, while the Topix index of all first-section issues slipped 0.33 percent, or 5.42 points, to 1,633.85.

In specific stocks, Panasonic fell 1.08 percent to 1,506.5 yen while Honda lost 0.54 percent to 3,110 yen. SoftBank dropped 1.06 percent to 8,927 yen by the break. It reported a plunge in quarterly net profit due partly to losses in derivatives trade and a one-time gain the previous year, while operating profit surged more than 50 percent.

GS Yuasa surged 9.47 percent to 566 yen after the Nikkei business daily reported the company would start mass producing lithium-ion batteries that double the driving range of small electric vehicles as early as 2020.

Smartphone screen maker Japan Display fell 0.50 percent to 198 yen after the Nikkei reported it was considering cutting some 4,000 jobs -- about 30 percent of its workforce -- and taking on a capital infusion from an outside partner as part of a broad restructuring.