Stocks fell for a
fourth day in Tokyo, after the benchmark equity index capped a 13
percent quarterly drop, as a report showed corporate sentiment
deteriorated to near a three-year low.
The Topix index
dropped 1.5 percent to 1,327.43 at 9:14 a.m. in Tokyo, with all of its
33 industry groups declining. The measure is headed for a 2.4 percent
loss this week. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 1.4 percent to
16,531.16 on Friday after the Tankan index of confidence among large
manufacturers missed economist estimates. The yen added 0.2 percent to
112.31 per dollar.
The Tankan index fell
to a reading of 6 in the first quarter, the lowest level since mid-2013,
from 12 in the previous three months, the Bank of Japan reported
Friday. Economists had expected a reading of 8. A positive number means
there are more optimists than pessimists among manufacturers. Big
companies across all industries plan to cut capital expenditure by 0.9
percent this fiscal year, more than the median economist estimate of 0.7
percent.
Futures on the
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index were little changed. The underlying U.S.
equity gauge fell 0.2 percent on Thursday as the March rebound that had
global equities on the brink of erasing losses for 2016 faltered. The
U.S. releases its March payrolls report on Friday.
Source : Bloomberg
No comments:
Post a Comment