Japan Stocks gain on firm offshore lead, domestic earnings

Headline indices of the Japan share market were mixed in choppy trade on Monday, 06 August 2018, as positive sentiment bolstered by gains on Wall Street Friday coupled with robust earnings reports from Japanese companies were offset by caution ahead of corporate earnings and this week's trade talks between Washington and Tokyo. Among TSE33 issues, 22 issues declined, while 11 issues inclined, with shares of Banks, Metal Products, Textiles & Apparels, Insurance, Rubber Products, and Precision Instruments issues being notable losers, while Iron & Steel, Information & Communication, Pulp & Paper, and Oil & Coal Products issues were notable gainers. Around late afternoon, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.02%, or 3.38 points, to 22,528.56. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 0.41%, or 7.14 points, to 1,735.44.

Among individual stocks, NTT Data shares jumped 7.3% after the company's posted 23% jump in net profit to 20.81 billion yen in the quarter ended June 2018, thanks to strong public infrastructure business in the domestic market.

 

Isuzu Motors shares climbed up 3% after the automaker announced a plan to buy back up to 6.34% of the stock for as much as 80 billion yen, after it and Toyota Motor said they would dissolve their capital ties.

Shares of Foster Electric dived 19% after forecasted a net loss of 2.5 billion yen for the fiscal year ending March 2019 due to falling demand for headsets from its main customers, compared to its previous guidance of a net profit of 2.5 billion yen.

Shares of Toyota Motor edged up after losing 0.9% on Friday on investor disappointment with the car giant's decision to leave unchanged its full-year guidance, despite robust first-quarter results.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Japanese yen was little changed against U.S. dollar on Monday after the U.S. job data reinforced investors' expectations the Federal Reserve will gradually raise interest rates this year. The dollar edged down against the yen, changing hands at 111.22 yen against 111.25 yen in New York Friday and 111.71 yen in Tokyo before the weekend. The yen had moved about 0.4% higher on Friday on worries about Sino-U.S. trade tensions after China proposed retaliatory tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods such as liquefied natural gas and aircraft.

OFFSHORE MARKET NEWS, US stock market closed higher on Friday as traders digested the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report showing weaker than expected job growth in July, partly due to a drop in government employment and the closing of Toys "R" Us stores. The report also showed a modest decrease in the unemployment rate. The Nasdaq inched up 9.33 points or 0.1% to 7,812.01, the Dow climbed 136.42 points or 0.5% at 25,462.58 and the S&P 500 rose 13.13 points or 0.5% to 2,840.35.

The major European markets also closed higher on Friday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1.1%, the German DAX Index advanced by 0.6% and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3%.

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