Japanese stocks fluctuated as companies that reported or forecast higher earnings rose, while brokerages cut their investment recommendations on some shares.
GS Yuasa Corp., a battery maker, jumped 5.4 percent after the company boosted its profit forecast. Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., a copper producer, advanced 2.3 percent after copper climbed to a record yesterday in London. Hoya Corp., a maker of optical glass, fell 2.6 percent after Credit Suisse Group AG cut its rating on the company.
Copper prices are rising because “there’s strong demand for infrastructure development in emerging nations, especially in China, so related companies will get a boost,” said Mitsushige Akino, who oversees about $450 million in Tokyo at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average was little changed at 10,725.82 at the midday trading break in Tokyo. The broader Topix index rose 0.2 percent to 960.76, with four stocks advancing for every three that retreated. The Topix’s seven- day climb is the longest winning streak since a 13-day run that ended Aug. 4, 2009.
The Topix has gained 5.6 percent this month, the most among the major Asia-Pacific indexes. That has driven the average price of stocks in the gauge to 16.3 times estimated earnings, the highest level since August.
‘Market is Overheated’
“Supported by corporate earnings, the stock market has been strong, but I see the market is overheated,” Ichiyoshi Investment Management’s Akino said.
GS Yuasa jumped 5.4 percent to 620 yen, the most in the Nikkei. The company boosted its full-year net income forecast 25 percent to 10 billion yen （$120 million）, and it increased the planned full-year dividend to 8 yen a share from 7 yen.
Tokyo Tatemono Co., a property developer, leapt 4.1 percent to 406 yen. The company said it expects operating profit to rise 3.9 percent to 25 billion yen this year. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Barclays Capital increased their share price estimates on the company.
Sumitomo Metal Mining climbed 2.3 percent to 1,515 yen, set for the highest close since November 2009. Mitsui & Co., which counts commodities as its largest source of profit, increased 2.5 percent to 1,539 yen. Mitsubishi Corp., Japan’s No. 1 commodities trader, advanced 1.2 percent to 2,379 yen. Trading companies were the biggest support for the Topix among the 33 industry groups in the index.
Copper Rises
The London Metal Exchange Index of prices for six industrial metals including copper and aluminum climbed 1.8 percent yesterday, the most this month. Copper for delivery in three months increased to a record of $10,168.50 a metric ton in London yesterday after a report showed that imports of the metal rose in January in China, the world’s largest copper consumer.
Softbank Corp., Japan’s second-biggest mobile-phone operator by market value, climbed 3.4 percent to 3,160 yen and was the most-actively traded stock by value in Japan. China Mobile Ltd., Vodafone Group Plc and Bharti Airtel Ltd. and Softbank will cooperate on the development of China’s TD- LTE technology standard for so-called fourth-generation mobile services, China Mobile made the announcement in a PR Newswire statement from Barcelona dated yesterday.
China Inflation
China’s consumer prices rose 4.9 percent in January from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said on its website at 11 a.m. today. Producer prices climbed 6.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the statement.
Also today, the Bank of Japan is scheduled to release its latest policies following a two-day meeting.
Hoya fell 2.6 percent to 1,950 yen after Credit Suisse cut the company’s rating to “underperform” from “neutral.”
T&D Holdings Inc., Japan’s largest publicly traded life insurer, dropped 1.4 percent to 2,430 yen. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analyst Takanori Miyoshi lowered his rating to “sell” from “neutral.”
（source from:bloomberg）
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