By Kosaku Narioka
New Zealand, Australian stocks end higher
Japanese stocks posted paltry gains Friday, helped by several
solid earnings results, but struggled to recover from a selloff
Thursday following unexpectedly weak U.S. gross domestic product
figures earlier in the week.
The Nikkei Stock Average added 0.1% to 19,531.63, ending the
week with a 2.4% fall, the sharpest since December. New Zealand
stocks rose 0.1% and the Australian market was up 0.4%. Most other
Asian markets were closed for Labor Day, including China, Hong
Kong, Singapore and South Korea.
Japanese stocks have been helped by the prospect of U.S.
economic recovery, with the benchmark Nikkei gaining 12% in 2015.
But data showed Wednesday that the U.S. economy grew only 0.2% in
the first quarter
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-gdp-barely-grows-in-first-quarter-2015-04-29),
slowing down from a 2.2% pace in the fourth quarter.
The Bank of Japan maintained its current easing program
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bank-of-japan-stands-pat-as-inflation-weakens-2015-04-30)
Thursday, giving market participants a signal to sell for now, as
uncertainty remains over the pace of the U.S. recovery and when the
Federal Reserve may start raising interest rates, said Yoshihiro
Okumura, general manager of research at Chibagin Asset
Management.
Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment
Management, said there has been a reversal of money flows in
several assets, with the dollar losing ground against the euro as
expectations weaken that the U.S. central bank will raise rates in
the coming weeks.
Nonetheless, several strong Japanese earnings supported the
Tokyo market.
Bathroom products manufacturer Toto Ltd. rose 7.9% after the
firm said it expects its net profit to increase by 28% to Yen31.8
billion ($265 million) in the fiscal year ending in March 2016.
Japan Tobacco Inc. gained 3.6% after the company said it logged
a net profit of Yen104.2 billion in the January-March quarter,
roughly unchanged from last year.
Meanwhile, a rise in mining stocks helped keep Australia's stock
market out of negative territory after Brazilian iron-ore producer
Vale S.A. (RIO) gave the strongest signals yet Thursday that it
could temper output
(http://www.wsj.com/articles/brazils-vale-considers-cutting-iron-ore-output-1430412392?KEYWORDS=vale)
in the face of an oversupplied global market. Big iron-ore miners
were higher -- BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) was up 1.7% and Rio Tinto
Ltd. (RIO) was 2% higher.
The S&P/ASX 200 ended the day at 5,814.4. That narrowed the
week's decline to 2% after the index on Monday came within 20
points of 6,000--a level last breached in January 2008 despite
several attempts in recent months.
Among other individual stock movers, Fujitsu Ltd. lost 18% after
the company said it expects net profit to drop 29% in the fiscal
year ending March 2016.
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