TOKYO: Japan’s Topix index fell from a seven-year high, paring its third straight weekly increase, as the yen strengthened for a sixth day. Retailers and energy producers led losses.
Sony Corp., a consumer electronics maker that gets more than 70 percent of sales outside Japan, declined 3.6 percent after Wikileaks published company documents. Discount-store operator Don Quijote Holdings Co. slumped 8.1 percent. JX Holdings Inc. advanced 2.1 percent after crude oil headed for the biggest weekly gain since 2011 and the Nikkei reported profit at the energy company will exceed analyst estimates.
The Topix retreated 0.5 percent to 1,591.43 at 12:51 p.m. in Tokyo, trimming its weekly gain to 0.1 percent. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 1 percent to 19,693.96. The yen dropped 0.1 percent to 115.95 per dollar. More than 50 companies on the Topix released earnings this week.
“Earnings expectations have already been priced in for the most part,” Juichi Wako, a senior strategist at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Tokyo said by phone. “In that sense we’re in a state of wait-and-see.”
