TOKYO, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) — Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock index closed lower Friday as U.S. technology giants’ earnings continued to be disappointing, although domestic companies reporting solid profits and outlooks drew buying.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped 240.04 points, or 0.88 percent, from Thursday to close the day at 27,105.20.
The broader Topix index, meanwhile, lost 6.51 points, or 0.34 percent, to finish at 1,899.05.
Local brokers said the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) decision to maintain its ultra-loose monetary policy on Friday was widely expected and factored in.
The BOJ’s decision came despite rising inflation and prices in Japan and a widening interest rate gap with other major central banks pressuring the yen.
Yukio Ishizuki, a senior foreign exchange strategist at Daiwa Securities Co., was quoted as saying, however, that despite concerns over the yen’s weakness and the possibility of further intervention by financial authorities to redress the currency’s slump, attention was now on the U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary policy-setting meeting next week.
Some investment strategists said that stocks here remained under pressure owing to concerns over U.S. technology bellwethers underperforming this earnings season.
“There’s a possibility the Fed could show a more dovish posture going forward, but earnings from America’s tech giants were just too bad and (it) looks likely to keep Japanese stocks under pressure for now,” Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, was quoted as saying.
By the close of play, precision instruments, marine transportation, and mining issues comprised those that declined the most.
Robot-maker Fanuc Inc. dragged the broader market lower, tumbling 5.5 percent after cutting its earnings forecast for the year to March.
Conversely, semiconductor equipment maker Advantest Corp. climbed 2.4 percent after reporting a robust net profit in the April-Sept. period.
Issues that fell outpaced those that rose by 1,170 to 598, while 66 ended the day unchanged.
On the Prime market, 2,410.34 million shares changed hands, up from Thursday’s volume of 1,078.64 million.
The turnover on the final trading day of the week came to 5,768.92 billion yen (39.15 billion U.S. dollars).