TOKYO: Japanese stocks fell as investors await a Bank of Japan policy decision after the Federal Reserve signaled the pace of U.S. interest-rate increases will be slow even as it prepares to raise borrowing costs this year.
Mitsui & Co. slid 1 percent after Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. cut its rating on the trading company. Nissan Motor Co., which gets almost half its sales from north America, lost 2 percent. Yamaha Corp. jumped 5.4 percent after Mizuho Financial Group Inc. boosted its outlook on the audio-equipment maker. Idemitsu Kosan Co. dropped 3.4 percent after the oil refiner said it shut its distillation unit in Japan following a fire.
The Topix slipped 0.7 percent to 1,623.14 as of 12:44 p.m. in Tokyo, with twice as many shares falling as rose. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 0.8 percent to 20,065.01. The BOJ begins a two-day meeting Thursday in Tokyo, with all 35 economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecasting Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will keep policy on hold.
“Even if we have one U.S. interest hike within the year, the pace of increase will be gradual after that,” Mitsushige Akino, executive officer at Ichiyoshi Asset Management Co. in Tokyo, said by phone. “Japanese stocks have already priced in good earnings, so it’ll be difficult to keep going up. There’ll probably be no change to policy by the BOJ. I’m keen to see what Kuroda will say in terms of currencies.”
