Japan's Nikkei little changed; Fed meet, domestic earnings in focus
TOKYO, Jan 31 (Reuters) -Japan's Nikkei index was largely unchanged on Tuesday, as the market showed little direction ahead of the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting and as corporate results showed mixed trends.
The Nikkei share average .N225 slipped 0.01% to 27,429.59 by the midday break after rising as much as 0.2% earlier in the session. The index is set to post a 5.12% monthly gain, the best since October.
The broader Topix .TOPX inched up 0.04% to 1,983.19.
"Investors are cautions ahead of the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) and U.S. jobs data," said Shoichi Arisawa, general manager of the investment research department at IwaiCosmo Securities.
"At the peak of the earnings season in Japan, investors focus is on individual stocks, rather than the overall move, which is why the market has no direction. Those with good outlook rose and those with dim fell."
U.S. economic data scheduled to be released this week includes readings on consumer confidence, construction spending, and unemployment, and those are expected to factor into whether the Fed will conclude its rate hikes in March. US/
Among individual stocks, Canon 7751.T lost 2.1% after the camera maker's annual operating profit forecast disappointed investors.
Oriental Land 4661.T jumped 3.07% after the operator of the Tokyo Disney Resort raised its annual net profit forecast.
Nissan Motor 7201.T rose 2.07% after the Japanese automaker and its French partner Renault SA RENA.PA announced a sweeping overhaul of their two-decade-old alliance putting them on equal footing.
The banking sector .BNKS.T lost 1.51% to become the worst sector of the 33 industry sub-indexes, followed by the oil explorers .IMING.T and refiners .IPETE.T, which lost 1.49% and 1.08%, respectively.
Reporting by Junko Fujita; editing by Uttaresh.V
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
