TOKYO: Japan’s Topix index swung between gains and losses in thin trading as investors awaited a U.S. jobs report. Agricultural stocks fell, while tiremakers rose.
Fisheries company Maruha Nichiro Corp. lost 4 percent. Telecommunication stocks and drugmakers were the biggest drags on the Topix. Bridgestone Corp. added 3.2 percent as the Topix Rubber Products Index gained the most among the broader gauge’s 33 industry groups. Aeon Co. climbed 1.5 percent after a report its first-half operating profit rose 70 percent from the previous year.
The Topix increased 0.1 percent to 1,444.28 as of 12:38 p.m. in Tokyo, with volume 21 percent below the 30-day intraday average. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.1 percent to 17,739.08. Data on U.S. jobs are due Friday, with economists forecasting employers to have added 201,000 workers in September after a gain of 173,000 in August. The Federal Reserve will weigh the data when making its next rate decision on Oct. 28.
“Any gains in Japanese stocks will be limited ahead of the U.S. jobs report and the weekend,” said Masayuki Doshida, a senior market analyst at Rakuten Economic Research Institute. “There are dark spots in the U.S. economy. The focus is on whether this is just a passing trend or whether it’s a medium to long-term deceleration caused by the worsening economic situation in China and emerging countries. Currently, the view that it’s temporary is strong.”
