Japanese key stock indices ended flat on Wednesday, with exporters sold after surprisingly weak US consumer confidence data stoked concerns about the strength of the recovery in Japan's big trade partner.
But drug makers enjoyed handsome gains, with the sector sub-index rising 1.92 percent on hopes that a major acquisition by Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co Ltd would lead to a shake-up in the sector.
NTT DoCoMo Inc and other telecom issues also bounced back, checking further falls in the overall market, analysts said. DoCoMo was up 2.27 percent at 225,000 yen.
The benchmark Nikkei average rose 14.60 points or 0.14 percent to 10,658.73, paring the previous day's 2.07 percent fall, its biggest in two months.
The broader TOPIX index, however, lost 0.24 percent to 1,046.40.
One fund manager said that while the Yamanouchi deal sparked hopes for improved profitability in the pharmaceutical sector, it also made other sectors less attractive for now.
"It's understandable the market as a whole doesn't look well when pharmaceuticals absorb so much energy from the market, like today," said Kazuhide Hayashi, deputy general manager at Norinchukin Zenkyoren Asset Management.
When the market outlook becomes uncertain, investors prefer defensives, typically pharmaceuticals, rather than growth stocks such as blue chip exporters, analysts said.
An extended fall on Wall Street was one of the main factors casting a shadow over the Tokyo market, they said.
US stocks fell for a fifth straight session on Tuesday after data showing an unexpectedly big fall in US consumer confidence in February as Americans grew disenchanted with the economy, mainly because of the lack of new jobs. "A worry is Wall Street.
The more we wait for the market to gain momentum, the more it looks too fragile to maintain the up-trend," said Terushi Hirotama, head of trading at Ichiyoshi Securities.
Among exporters, Honda Motor Co Ltd gave up 2.55 percent to 4,580 yen and bigger rival Toyota Motor Corp lost 1.89 percent to 3,630 yen.
Sharp Corp, the world's biggest maker of liquid crystal display televisions, lost 2.34 percent to 1,756 yen.
Semiconductor chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron Ltd skidded 2.38 percent to 6,550 yen, following chip giant Intel Corp's fall to nearly five-month lows this week.
"Investors may feel anxious probably until (February US) jobs data at the beginning of March confirms the recovery there is intact," said Koichi Seki, equity manager at Chuo Securities.
Decliners outnumbered gainers 766 to 599. Volume fell, with 995.09 million shares traded, the lowest total since February 10, when 892.99 million shares changed hands.
Comments
Comments are closed.