Tokyo stocks retreat after four-day run
Nikkei falls 0.6%; Seoul, S'pore also hit by tech-selling
By Mariko Ando, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 3:25 AM ET April 19, 2002
www2.marketwatch.com
TOKYO (CBS.MW) - The Nikkei fell Friday as Wall Street's losses and the yen's strength prompted investors to take profits after the key index climbed more than 600 points during the past four days.
Other major stock markets in the region also slid despite better-than-expected earnings from chip giants Samsung Electronics and Chartered Semiconductor.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei Average lost 63.72 points, or 0.6 percent, to 11,512.01, snapping a four-day winning streak. The broader Topix gave up 0.3 percent to 1,092.30.
Investors rushed to sell computer-related issues after the Nasdaq closed lower and software giant Microsoft (MSFT: news, chart, profile) lowered its forecast for this quarter and fiscal 2003. See full story.
"The U.S. market is very fragile because of earnings and that's making local investors reluctant to trade actively. But for the Nikkei, the 11,000-level is surely a buying opportunity for long-term investors," said Noboru Saruya, an equity information manager at Shinko Securities.
"Upbeat earning reports from Asian chipmakers like Samsung suggest a recovery in the U.S. tech business and that's definitely a plus also for Japanese tech companies. Players are closely monitoring coming earnings results by Japan's key firms and I would say the market's consensus for such results is pretty high." |
