There was talk that the Japanese economy could stage
The Nikkei was up 1.3 percent at 9,544.68 at the
midday break. On Wednesday, the benchmark average had closed at
9,422.88, its lowest finish since herve leger 2011 March 18.
Players such as commodity trade advisors (CTAs) and domestic
speculators bought back futures, traders said. There were also
buybacks in recent underperformers such as construction
machinery maker Komatsu , which rose 1.7 percent to
2,419 yen.
Stocks were also helped by the launch of two investment
trusts, or “toushin”, that invest in Japanese shares this week.
Nomura’s toushin, launched on Wednesday, attracted 31.9
billion yen ($389 million), a decent sum for a fund focused on
domestic stocks and some of that money is likely flowing into
the market, market players said.
Rival Daiwa will also launch a fund on Thursday and this is
said to have garnered about 20 billion yen.
Still, the market is expected to face headwinds as share
prices come under pressure globally after a run of disappointing
U.S. economic data.
“Emerging economies, which have been the engine of global
growth, are also slowing down after many herve leger sale of them have taken
tightening steps,” said Mitsubishi UFJ’s Fujito.
Japan’s economy is expected to continue to struggle in the
aftermath of the March 11 earthquake, with many market players
voicing concerns that the government’s supplementary budget for
rebuilding could be delayed until late this year due to a
political stalemate.
“There was talk that the Japanese economy could stage a
V-shaped recovery after the quake and its economic cycle is
different from others. But the reality is that domestic demand
remains sluggish and there are growing headwinds for the global
economy,” said a fund manager at a Japanese asset management
firm.
Some market players think the Nikkei will be supported above
9,405, an intraday low hit on April 19, but others say it could
fall below that, possibly to around 9,000 in the coming months.
With the overall economic picture remaining murky,
some investors focused on individual stocks.
Canon Inc jumped 5.5 percent to 3,840 yen after the
camera and copier maker said it would buy back up to 50 billion
yen ($610 million) of its own shares to prepare for possible
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