Japanese shares are expected to trade in a narrow range in the coming week after recent gains as the market keeps an eye on US corporate results, dealers said Friday. A number of leading US corporations will release earnings reports next week, with particular attention on Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, on Tuesday.
South Korean chipmaking giant Samsung on Friday reported that net profit sharply dropped, although it was within expectations.
Other US companies that are due to release results include IBM on Monday, Motorola and Yahoo on Tuesday and Qualcomm, eBay and General Motors on Wednesday.
Dealers in Japan said the US results were more interesting than economic figures and events in the two countries.
"US corporate earnings reports are stronger factors for the Japanese shares next week than domestic factors," said Ryuta Otsuka, a senior market strategist at Tokyo Securities. Japan is due Thursday to release its trade statistics for June, which may give some direction.
Dealers said many investors would prefer to stay on the sidelines ahead of domestic earnings reports that start from the last week of July.
In the United States, Federal Reserve Bank chairman Alan Greenspan is due to testify before Congress on Wednesday and the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting in June is out Thursday.
Dealers expect the minutes to show little change in the pace of raising interest rates considering the steady US economy.
The Nikkei index is expected to be traded between 11,700 and 11,800 in the coming week, which will have four days of trade due to a holiday on Monday.
For the week ending July 15, the Tokyo Stock Exchange's benchmark Nikkei-225 index rose 192.69 points or 1.67 percent to 11,758.68.
The broader TOPIX index of all First Section shares also gained 15.69 points or 1.33 percent to 1,193.30.
Among major shares, Honda Motor gained 190 yen or 3.52 percent to 5,590 yen. Toyota Motor rose 120 yen or 2.95 percent at 4,190 yen. And Nissan Motor added 33 yen or 2.98 percent to 1,140 yen.
Canon was up 110 yen or 1.86 percent to 6,020 yen, Fujitsu gained 31 yen or 5.44 percent to 601 yen. NEC rose 15 yen or 2.62 percent to 588.
Comments
Comments are closed.