Japanese
stocks rose, with the Topix index set to cap a monthly increase, as
investors await company results on the busiest day in the earnings
season. Shippers and refineries led gains.
The
Topix index climbed 0.2 percent to 1,650.72 as of 9:02 a.m. in Tokyo,
headed for a weekly loss of 0.3 percent and a gain of 1.2 percent in
July. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 0.2 percent to 20,488.75. More
than 300 companies in the Topix will report quarterly results Friday,
including the nation’s three largest banks.
Mitsubishi
UFJ Financial Group Inc., Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. and
Mizuho Financial Group Inc. report after the close of markets. Of the
598 firms that have reported so far this season, 59 percent exceeded
profit expectations, an improvement from the 48 percent that beat
forecasts in the previous quarter, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg. Sales were also stronger, with 60 percent coming in above
estimates, up from 55 percent last quarter.
Japanese
core consumer prices rose 0.1 percent in June from a year earlier,
beating estimates for no change, a government report showed Friday.
Separate data showed the jobless rate ticked up to 3.4 percent.
Economists estimated the rate would remain at 3.3 percent.
Futures
on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slid 0.1 percent after the
underlying measure finished little changed on Thursday. U.S. gross
domestic product rose at a 2.3 percent annualized rate from April
through June after a revised 0.6 percent advance the prior three months
that wiped out a previously reported drop, Commerce Department data
showed Thursday in Washington.
Source: Bloomberg
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