RTRS: Nikkei falls 3 percent as exporters hit by yen
Japan's Nikkei share average fell 3 percent on Wednesday, with Sony Corp (6758.T) and other exporters down on a higher yen, while investors sold shares in companies forecasting weak earnings results. Trading firms also fell after oil prices slipped.
Market analysts said investors were locking in their profits as the benchmark Nikkei .N225 was up about 25 percent from its March 10 bear market low by the close of trade on Tuesday.
"A higher yen and a fall in other Asian stocks are hurting sentiment," said Shinji Igarashi, equity manager of sales department at Chuo Securities. "Market players were also watching how much overseas investors are taking profits ahead of the Easter holidays this weekend."
The Nikkei slid 270.56 points to 8,562.29.
The broader Topix lost 2.6 percent to 810.81.
The dollar briefly dropped below 100 yen, stoking worries over Japanese exporters' profits. A stronger yen lowers the value of profits Japanese firms make abroad in yen terms.
Wall Street tumbled on Tuesday as the U.S. earnings season began, with Alcoa Inc (AA.N) reporting its second consecutive quarterly loss, igniting worries about another round of poor profits and whether the recent rally is sustainable.
Japan's earnings season begins in earnest on Thursday, when retailers including Seven & I Holdings (3382.T) announce full-year results. Carmakers started the day in negative territory as profit-taking kicked in after sharp rises, but Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) and several others later edged up as short-covering emerged on a sense the sector is over the worst.
But several, including Toyota and Nissan Motor Co (7201.T), later turned positive on what Okasan's Ishiguro said was bargain-hunting on a sense the sector was over the worst.
Honda Motor Co (7267.T) slipped 2 percent to 2,750 yen. But Toyota rose 0.5 percent to 3,760 yen and Nissan climbed 1.1 percent to 469 yen.
Tech shares remained weak, though, after U.S. powerhouses such as Apple (AAPL.O) lost ground.
Kyocera fell 4.3 percent to 6,480 yen and Canon Inc (7751.T) lost 5.3 percent to 2,935 yen. Sony Corp (6758.T) shed 4.1 percent to 2,320 yen
U.S. crude oil futures fell nearly $1 to nearly $48 a barrel on Wednesday, extending a 6.6 percent decline in the previous three days, after the American Petroleum Institute reported a big build in U.S. crude supplies.
The decline hit trading houses such as Mitsubishi Corp (8058.T), which fell 1.8 percent to 1,447 yen, while fellow trader Mitsui & Co (8031.T) slipped 2.7 percent to 1,099 yen. In a sign that worry about earnings was hitting Japanese shares as well, Kobe Steel (5406.T) lost 4.2 percent to 137 yen after it downgraded its earnings estimate on Tuesday for the year ended on March 31 to a net loss, citing an appraisal loss on inventories as well as impairment charges on stockholdings and fixed assets.
