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Nikkei hits 6-month low on concerns over continued Wall St. slide(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The Nikkei stock index hit a fresh six-month closing low on Monday and the broader Topix index extended its losing streak to a seventh trading day amid concerns over continued losses on Wall Street. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended down 49.89 points, or 0.36 percent, from Friday at 13,910.16, its lowest finish since Oct. 8. The Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange finished 1.33 points, or 0.12 percent, lower at 1,132.76. Tokyo shares got off to a weak start following Friday's declines in U.S. shares on the heels of a disappointing earnings report from JPMorgan Chase & Co. The market, however, showed resistance to downward pressure as bargain-hunting set in following the Nikkei index's plunge of 1,103.72 points last week, its biggest weekly loss since October 2008. The Nikkei moved in and out of the negative column for much of the day, but finished lower, weighed down by losses in such index heavyweights as Fast Retailing and Softbank. Trading was extremely thin, with volume on the main section falling to 1,728.81 million shares from Friday's 2,388.48 million shares. Toshikazu Horiuchi, equity strategist at IwaiCosmo Securities Co., said, "It is natural to see some buying after the Nikkei lost more than 1,000 points, but I cannot deny there is a mood that players want to see how U.S. shares will perform (after recent sell-offs.)" "A lot of major U.S. economic data will be released this week. By checking the data, we want to see whether shares have fallen too much," he said. Ayako Terada of Nomura Securities Co.'s investment research department, said that after their recent sharp falls, Tokyo shares look more undervalued than before from the perspective of the price-to-earnings ratio. "We see limited risk of shares falling sharply from this level," she said. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones 944 to 683 on the First Section, while 176 closed unchanged. Sharp drew heavy selling after the Asahi Shimbun daily said the electronics maker is considering another issue of new shares that could raise about 200 billion yen. The stock tumbled 26 yen, or 8.7 percent, to 273 yen. Fast Retailing, which recently revised down its profit forecast for the current fiscal year, fell again after The Sunday Times reported that the company is in talks about a possible takeover of British retailer Cath Kidston. The stock ended down 1,025 yen, or 3 percent, at 32,795 yen. Softbank fell 120 yen, or 1.7 percent, to 6,780 yen. Meanwhile, recently battered shares turned higher. Toyota Motor staged a rebound after falling about 9 percent over the past seven trading days, ending up 96 yen, or 1.8 percent, at 5,410 yen. Pharmaceutical shares were firm after the discovery of bird flu at a farm in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan. Taiko Pharmaceutical surged 50 yen, or 3.3 percent, to 1,547 yen, Aska Pharmaceutical rose 12 yen, or 1.3 percent, to 916 yen, and mask maker Daiwabo Holdings gained 2 yen, or 1.2 percent, to 172 yen. (c) 2014 Kyodo News |