BEIJING: Japanese stocks swung between gains and losses as energy stocks climbed while tiremakers, airlines and shippers fell after oil value surged to a one-month high.
The Topix index fell 1 percent to 1,394.50 as of 1:03 p.m. in Tokyo, reversing a gain of 0.5 percent. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 1 percent to 17,376.26. Crude oil extended gains after jumping 2.8 percent yesterday to rally from a two-week low. The yen strengthened 0.4 percent to 117.06 per dollar today.
Inpex Corp., Japan’s biggest oil explorer, jumped 7.1 percent. Bridgestone Corp. tumbled 3 percent as higher crude prices threatened to increase costs for tiremakers. Japan Airlines Ltd. lost 3.4 percent. Sony Corp. added 1.6 percent after its price target was raised at Credit Suisse Group AG, citing strength in the company’s games business.
“We’re beginning to see the bottom in oil prices and that’s stabilizing U.S. stocks, which in turn is stabilizing Japanese shares,” said Yusuke Kuwayama, a portfolio manager at Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co. in Tokyo. “The market seems to have digested all the negative oil news, so with energy companies having downgraded their outlooks, it seems the massive fall in oil prices is now priced in.”
Crude extended its recovery from an almost six-year low reached last week, climbing to a one-month high in New York. Oil producers in the U.S. shut production at rigs and a strike by oil workers at plants accounting for 10 percent of U.S. refining capacity strained supplies, sending prices higher.
