TOKYO: Japanese stocks swung between gains and losses after a U.S. payrolls report gave little comfort to investors seeking direction on when the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates, and as trading in China resumed after a holiday.
Toshiba Corp. gained 4.9 percent after reporting earnings following a delay after facing an accounting scandal. Builder Haseko Corp. added 1 percent and social media site operator DeNA Co. jumped 6.9 percent after the index compiler Nikkei Inc. said it would add the companies to the Nikkei 225 Stock Average. Japan Tobacco Inc. and SoftBank Group Corp. were the biggest drags on the Topix index.
The Topix index slipped 0.6 percent to 1,435.39 at the trading break in Tokyo, swinging between gains of 0.6 and losses of 1.9 percent. About three shares fell for each that rose, after the measure on Friday capped its longest losing weekly streak since February 2014. The Nikkei 225 slid 0.4 percent to 17,727.90. The yen fell 0.2 percent to 119.27 per dollar after strengthening 0.9 percent on Friday. China’s Shanghai Composite Index was little changed after trading resumed following holidays last week.
“In reality no one, including I, think the FOMC members are closer to knowing whether they will raise rates in September,” said Andrew Sullivan, head of sales trading at Haitong International Securities Group Ltd. in Hong Kong. “The U.S. jobs data make it a 50:50 call. Anyone that is short is likely to be cautious and try to lock in gains. We really need to see what happens over the next few days.”
