TOKYO: Japanese stocks swung between gains and losses as investors weighed poor earnings and signs of stability in Chinese markets.
Robotmaker Fanuc Corp. plunged 12 percent after cutting its full-year profit forecast amid slowing demand from China. Tokyo Electron Ltd sank 11 percent after the semiconductor-equipment maker lowered its sales and profit outlook on concerns about demand in the chip market. Eisai Co. jumped 2.4 percent after saying the Food & Drug Administration granted breakthrough status to one of its drugs for treating kidney cancer. Koito Manufacturing Co. soared 7.8 percent as the headlights maker raised its operating profit targets.
The Topix added 0.3 percent to 1,634.62 as of 12:44 p.m. in Tokyo, reversing a loss of 0.2 percent. The Nikkei 225 dropped 0.1 percent to 20,312.60, with Fanuc contributing more than 100 points to the gauge’s decline.
“It’s becoming harder to find factors that could trigger companies to revise forecasts higher,” said Ayako Sera, a Tokyo-based strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Ltd., which manages the equivalent of $163 billion. The yen has struggled to move beyond 125 per dollar and domestic demand remains weak, so “the conditions for higher earnings revisions are diminishing, and that’s a worry.”
