Bare movement on Nikkei and Topix as Tokyo waits on holiday period

The Tokyo markets moved very little up or down on Monday despite a general downward trend in shares of companies that rely on exports and as the yen rose in relation to the dollar as speculation continued that China might revalue the renminibi.

The Nikkei 225 fell 0.1 percent to 11,002.11, while the Topix rose 0.2 percent to 1,131.80. Automobile manufacturers were generally down on the strength of the yen. Honda was down 1 percent to ¥5,040, and Toyota retreated 0.8 percent to ¥3,810. Both are significant exporters.

On the other hand, the technology sector was generally up on positive earnings news from Matsushita Electric Industrial, which reported a 42 percent increase in operating profits when it released its quarterly earnings report last Thursday.

Matsushita was up 2.8 percent to ¥1,580, and other companies in the sector rose an average of 0.7 percent in response to the news.

Another company whose shares rose substantially was internet media company Excite Japan. Its shares rose 11.6 percent to ¥1.54 million on reports that it plans to launch a music service for mobile phone users.

Another factor in Monday’s trading was the reluctance of investors to trade in advance of the Golden Week holiday period market closures coming up on Tuesday through Thursday.

Story link: Bare movement on Nikkei and Topix as Tokyo waits on holiday period