Nikkei slips below 9,000; Softbank, shippers rise
10/02/2012 at 04:18
* Nikkei dips 0.2 pct to below 9,000 * Toshiba rises after U.S. approves new nuclear reactors * Shippers surge after tariff rise recommendation * Softbank climbs on Alibaba.com deal By Dominic Lau and Mari Saito TOKYO, Feb 10 Reuters - Japan's Nikkei share average edged down to below 9,000 on Friday as investors remained wary about Greece's debt restructuring prospects, even after Athens struck a long-awaited deal on a second bailoutGains in Softbank Corp and shippers limited losses, however
Softbank surged 4 percent after sources said Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group plans to take private its Hong Kong-listed unit, in which the Japanese telecom firm has an indirect stake
Shippers , which were battered last year on concerns over global growth and rising fuel prices, cruised 1.8 percent higher after transpacific container shippers recommended a general rate rise of $300 per 40-foot unit from March 15 and another increase in May to restore rates from loss-making levels
A sector upgrade by JPMorgan to "overweight" from "neutral" also boosted shipping stocks
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd rose 2.1 percent to just below its 200-day moving average, while rivals Nippon Yusen KK and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd both climbed 1.8 percent
The Nikkei was down 0.2 percent at 8,984.84 by the midday break, with the 200-day moving average near 9,057 acting as resistance. The broader Topix eased 0.5 percent to 780.97
"Foreign investors shed a lot of their positions last year on risk-off sentiment, so right now they're buying back Japanese equities. It's not that they're overweight at all," said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities
"Domestic investors would rather take profits now ahead of the March earnings season, and the 9,000 level is a good point to sell for many Japanese investors." Trading was expected to be volatile with an option expiry
Toshiba Corp added 1.2 percent after the U.S. nuclear regulatory agency approved plans by Southern Co to build and operate two new nuclear power reactors through the Japanese firm's U.S. unit Westinghouse
Yamada Denki Co Ltd , a large discount home electronics retailer, jumped 9.6 percent after analysts said it was maintaining a high recurring profit margin thanks to effective management of cash discounts and a loyalty point scheme, despite declines in sales in the third quarter
Volume on the main broad after the morning session was 81 percent of its full daily average for the past 90 days
< Japan stocks above 50-day moving average: > CASHING IN Japan Tobacco , however, shed 3.7 percent after ramping up nearly 12 percent in the previous three sessions after the company revised up its annual guidance and dividend outlook on Monday
Investors also locked in profit on banks after the sector rallied more than 12 percent this year after last year's 21 percent drop
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group , Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group shed between 1.6 and 2.3 percent. They were still deep in "overbought" territory, despite those losses, with their 14-day relative strength indexes above 70
Other fallers included Daikin Industries Ltd , down another 2.4 percent after it cut its annual net profit forecast and its projection for operating profit
Japan's corporate earnings results have been disappointing so far. Out of 138 Nikkei companies that have reported, two-thirds of them failed to meet market expectations, Thomson Reuters StarMine data showed. That compares with 34 percent for S&P 500 companies
The weak earnings have not deterred the rally in Japanese equities, however, boosted by a brightening outlook for the United States and an injection of 489 billion euros of three-year loans by the European Central Bank
The Nikkei is up 6.3 percent so far this year after shedding 17.3 percent in 2011
Additional reporting by Antoni Slodkowski; Editing by Joseph Radford dominic.lau@thomsonreuters.com+81 3 6441 1917 Reuters Messaging: dominic.lau.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net Keywords: MARKETS JAPAN STOCKS