TOKYO: Japan’s equity-market rally stalled, with the Topix index slipping from the highest level in more than 11 weeks, as investors weighed earnings from DeNA Co. and Toppan Printing Co., and banks fell ahead of posting results.
The Topix lost 0.1 percent to close at 1,593.57 in Tokyo, swinging between a gain of 0.1 percent and a 0.5 percent drop. It closed Wednesday at the highest level since Aug. 20, up 16 percent from an eight-month low in September. The rebound came as 55 percent of companies reported better-than-expected quarterly profit this earnings season, and investors scrutinized economic data to assess whether the Bank of Japan will change its already unprecedented monetary stimulus.
“Japanese markets have been pushed to the limit as well as U.S. stocks,” said Mitsushige Akino, executive officer at Ichiyoshi Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. “We haven’t had bullish factors to lift markets at the moment.”
