TOKYO, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei average edged up slightly on Friday following an overnight rally in Wall Street, but sentiment was weighed down by fears of a negative surprise from domestic companies’ results. , the increase was limited.
The Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.07% to 27,381.18 by midday and was set to post a 3% gain this week. The broader Topix rose 0.07% to 1,979.85 and he was due to rise 2.74% this week.
Wall Street ended an overnight volatile session higher as investors grappled with an onslaught of economic data and a string of mixed corporate earnings.
“Investors sold stocks after the Nikkei made up for all the losses caused by the Bank of Japan’s policy adjustment last month,” said Jun Morita, head of research at Chibagin Asset Management.
“Also, in the middle of earnings season, investors are wary of negative surprises after Nidec issued a disappointing outlook.”
Electric motor maker Nidec disappointed investors by slashing its full-year operating profit forecast by almost half, sending its share price down 7% in the following session.
Nidec rose 2.98% to post a weekly gain of 2.38% on track.
Wafer maker Shin-Etsu rose 3.55% after raising its full-year profit forecast.
Toyota Motor Corp. announced that President Akio Toyoda will step down as president and CEO on April 1, handing over the helm of Japan’s largest automaker to top branding officer Koji Sato. It fell 0.5% in seesaw trading.
Core consumer prices in the Japanese capital, a leading indicator of national trends, rose 4.3% year-on-year in January, the fastest annual increase in almost 42 years.
The banking sector rose 1.08% to become the top performer among the 33 industry sub-indexes, while the shipping sector was the worst performer, falling 4.42%. ($1 = 129.7300 Yen) (Reported by Junko Fujita; Edited by Uttaresh.V)
