TOKYO: Tokyo stocks swung in and out of positive territory Thursday morning as shareholders await the European Central Bank’s economic policy meeting later in the day.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange gave up early gains to sit 0.10 percent, or 17.78 points, lower at 17,262.70 by the break, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares was down 0.47 percent, or 6.50 points, at 1,384.11.
With prices last month falling for the first time in five years, analysts widely expect the ECB to announce a programme of bond purchases, known as quantitative easing, to prop up the sagging 19-nation eurozone economy.
Fresh stimulus would “be positive in the mid to long term, but in the short term we could see a reversal in moves after the announcement”, Mitsushige Akino, an executive officer at Ichiyoshi Asset Management, told Bloomberg News.
“It’s difficult to make a move today.”
The Bank of Japan on Wednesday slashed its inflation outlook as plunging oil prices dent efforts to fight off deflation, but policymakers boosted their growth forecasts and said the economy was rebounding.
The BoJ, which held off fresh easing measures, said inflation for the year starting in April would come in at 1.0 percent, well down from an earlier 1.7 percent forecast.
However, it added that the economy would expand 2.1 percent, up from 1.5 percent, it said.
In share trading, SoftBank jumped 2.56 percent to 7,040.0 yen following news that its US unit Sprint reached a deal with Google that would see the search engine offer mobile phone services.
Toyota slipped 0.53 percent, a day after 2014 sales figures confirmed it was still the world’s biggest automaker but estimates for this year could see it lose the crown to Volkswagen.
In forex trading, the dollar rose to 118.25 yen from 117.90 yen in New York.
Wall Street posted its third day of gains with the Dow ending up 0.22 percent, the S&P 500 adding 0.47 percent and the Nasdaq 0.27 percent higher.
