TOKYO: Japanese stocks swung between gains and losses after the Bank of Japan left monetary policy unchanged. The yen strengthened for a second day, weighing on exporters.
Nissan Motor Co., which gets more than 80 percent of revenue abroad, declined 0.9 percent. Seibu Holdings Inc. plummeted 14 percent after Reuters reported Cerberus Capital Management LP will dump as much as $878 million of the railroad operator’s shares. Skylark Co. also slid on news of a private-equity selldown, losing 6 percent. Energy shares rose on higher crude prices, with oil driller Inpex Corp. adding 2.7 percent.
The Topix fell less than 0.1 percent to 1,646.01 as of 12:55 p.m. in Tokyo after rising as much as 0.1 percent. The gauge is poised for a 2.4 percent weekly gain, the most since February. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 0.2 percent to 20,239.80. The yen strengthened 0.2 percent to 120.82 per dollar after the central bank kept its asset-purchase plan unchanged, as predicted by economists.
“Having rallied the entire week, there’s a lack of new developments and earnings season is over,” said Tatsushi Maeno, head of Japanese equities at Pinebridge Investments Japan in Tokyo. “For now the market has lost a clear sense of direction.”
The BOJ will continue to boost the monetary base at an annual pace of 80 trillion yen ($662 billion), it said in a statement. All of 36 economists in a Bloomberg survey forecast the outcome. Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will speak to reporters today after the market close.
