RTRS: Nikkei edges up on exporters, worried about earnings
Japan's Nikkei average eked out a 0.3 percent gain on Wednesday, as exporters such as Sony Corp (6758.T) rebounded after falls the day before but worry about earnings amid a wave of grim profit forecasts limited gains.
Fujitsu Ltd (6702.T) and Toshiba Corp (6502.T) climbed more than 5 percent after Toshiba said it was in talks to buy Fujitsu's hard-disk drive business, a deal that would create the world's largest maker of small hard drives. [ID:nT161757]
Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) was up but off earlier highs after sources said Chrysler is in talks to sell key assets to Renault-Nissan and auto supplier Magna. [ID:nN13428466]
"Investors are very nervous and waiting for earnings, and even though the market is factoring in poor earnings, nobody is willing to buy," said Koichi Ogawa, chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments.
"There appears to be some buying by pension funds despite a lack of active reasons to buy right now, just a sense that the pace of the economic worsening will slow from April to June."
The benchmark Nikkei .N225 edged up 24.54 points to 8,438.45. It had fallen 4.8 percent the previous day to its lowest close in a month, with Sony tumbling after a source said it was expected to post its first operating loss in 14 years, and Toshiba also sliding on reports of a big loss.
The broader Topix rose 0.7 percent to 819.39.
Trade was light, with much of the activity centred around short-term traders who were focused on yen movements.
"Stocks are moving in a narrow range with everyone's eyes on dollar/yen, and things are likely to stay this way for a while," said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Shinko Securities.
The dollar clawed higher against the yen, fetching around 89.68 yen . A stronger yen eats into exporters' overseas profits when repatriated and makes their products less competitive.
In another sign of long-term problems besetting the market, the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday said that foreign investors, long a key source of market energy in Japan, were net sellers of shares in 2008 for the first time in eight years.
According to the TSE, foreign investors were net sellers of shares on the Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya exchanges to the tune of 3.71 trillion yen ($41.47 billion) in 2008. The Nikkei lost 42 percent for the year.
