TOKYO--Tokyo shares fell while Australia's market was flat in
early Monday trading as investors' apathy during the Lunar New Year
holiday kept trading subdued.
The benchmark Nikkei Stock Average was down 1.2% in morning
trading, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was flat at 5192.2.
Japan share trading typically reflects both the dollar and prior
Wall Street indexes, and so Friday's U.S. share selloff following
poor earnings reports from Amazon.com and Chevron--combined with a
selloff in the dollar--hurt the market.
The dollar fell under the Yen102 level, but has since rebounded
somewhat to the Yen102.30 mark.
A weaker dollar is bad for Japan shares as exporters cannot
easily lower prices to sell more of their goods abroad.
Earnings results are helping Honda Motor, which is up 0.2% after
it projected a 22% rise in global vehicle sales during the current
quarter. Meanwhile, Japan Airlines fell 1.0%, despite raising its
group net profit forecast for the current financial year.
"There's still some nervousness about emerging markets," says
investment adviser Christopher Macdonald. "People are wondering if
the jitters we saw last month are a sign of some bigger dislocation
in the market."
In Thailand, national elections were marred by protests and
ended with inconclusive results that were likely to extend the
country's political paralysis.
"It's important to note that fundamentals are not driving
Japanese stocks lower--it's the fault of the weak overall investing
environment," says Yoshihiro Okumura, general manager at Chibagin
Asset Management. "With valuations now steeply discounted and the
market nearing its 200-day moving average, here would be a good
place to buy."
The Nikkei lost 8.5% in January, its worst month since May
2012.
Write to Brad Frischkorn at bradford.frischkorn@wsj.com and
David Rogers at david.rogers@wsj.com
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