“Japanese shares dropped, with the Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average falling from its highest since July 2008, as the yen gained against the dollar and investors await major earnings reports this week.
Sony Corp. (6758), which gets nearly 20 percent of its sales from the U.S., fell 0.6 percent. Yamada Denki Co. dropped 4.8 percent after the electronics retailer missed its profit forecast by 35 percent. Oki Electric Industry Co. surged 21 percent after the Nikkei newspaper said operating profit doubled at the maker of ATMs. Komatsu Ltd., a machinery maker that gets 17 percent of its sales in China, reversed gains after Chinese manufacturing data fell short of estimates.
The Nikkei 225 lost 0.3 percent to 13,529.65 at the close in Tokyo. The Topix Index lost 0.2 percent to 1,143.78, with about three stocks gaining for every two that fell on the 1,698- member index.
“The yen is weakening at a slower pace, and there’s no catalyst for the Bank of Japan to ease further, which is what it would take to send the yen down,” said Ayako Sera, a market strategist in Tokyo at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Ltd., which manages about $163 billion. “Investors now need to see how the yen’s slide impacts earnings.”
The Topix has climbed 58 percent since mid-November through as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and central bank Governor Haruhiko Kuroda pledged to defeat 15 years of deflation. The gauge trades at 1.3 times book value compared with 2.3 for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and 1.6 for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
