So much for the morning rally. An S&P upgrade of Japan’s long-term credit rating one notch to “AA” from “AA-” resulted in buying of yen, and the rest is no surprise, selling of exporters and sustained weakness in domestic oriented and smaller-cap stocks. The Nikkei finished 2.75 points (0.02%) higher to 17,455.37 (range: 17,413.64 – 17,656.55). Nikkei 225 futures in Osaka gained 0.40% to 17,480 (range: 17,420 – 17,680). TOPIX 1st Section lost 4.44 (0.26%) to 1,705.63 (range: 1,701.59 – 1,726.36), as decliners outpaced advancers 1,093 x 525 (111 unchanged). The Nikkei Shimbun reports 244 stocks established new lows, versus 181 on Friday and only 43 that reached new highs. TOPIX 2nd Section fell for an 8th straight session, the longest losing streak since an 11-day span last September. JASDAQ fell 1.08% to 78.50 (range: 78.25 – 79.20).
Browsing Posts published on April 23, 2007
Blue chip exporters are leading the rally. Thank the Dow — 13,000?! Domestic oriented stocks and most financial stocks are weak — one exception of strength is ORIX (JP: 8591) (IX). There’s a clear and present preference. We’re still seeing bullishness in Kyocera (JP: 6971) (KYO) and TDK (JP: 6762) (TDK), but surprised to see weakness in Nidec (JP: 6594) (NJ). Sony (JP: 6758) (SNE) and Nintendo (JP: 7974) (NTDOY.PK) are both at/near new highs (multi-year in the case of Sony, all-time for Nintendo). Strength pretty much across the board with autos. So it’s lunch time in Tokyo and the Nikkei 225 is up 0.94% to 17,617.51, N225 futures +1.32% to 17,640 and TOPIX 1st Section +0.68% to 1,721.69. I hate to say it, but no surprise here, JASDAQ -1.01% to 78.56! // Get ready for earnings season. Don’t forget the N225 is still about 700 points shy of its multi-year high set in February before the global sell-off.
