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Friday June 16, 8:23 PMErratic stock movements force small investors to sidelines(Kyodo) _ Individual investors in Japan have become increasingly wary of stock trading as the Tokyo market has been on a roller-coaster ride in recent weeks, analysts said Friday.The Tokyo stock market has been greatly affected by erratic U.S. stock movements that reflect jitters over prospects for the U.S. economy. The key Nikkei Stock Average fell below the 15,000 threshold on June 8 for the first time in about six months to a year-to-date low as a result of a decline for five straight trading days. The 225-issue barometer index subsequently rebounded moderately but lost 614.41 points Tuesday to end at 14,218.60 -- marking the largest single-day point loss since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States -- due to increased expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep raising interest rates. But as the expectations have since subsided, the Nikkei average surged 408.58 points to 14,879.34 Friday. Amid the market's sharp ups and downs, individual investors sold 321.3 billion yen worth of more shares than they bought on the Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya markets in the fifth week of May, in a reversal from net purchases of 72.3 billion yen in the preceding week. In the first week of June, they remained net sellers by 36 billion yen. Selling by individuals has increased on the back of stop-loss sales in the face of margin calls, or requirements to deposit additional money into their margin trading accounts, as a result of stock price falls, the analysts said. A Shinko Securities Co. official says individuals have also been cautious because of the Nikkei average's erratic movements resulting from futures trading on the index conducted by hedge funds and overseas institutional investors, the official said. Day traders have also largely stayed on the sidelines, according to a Daiwa Securities Co. official. Trading on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange thus remains lackluster, weighing down the stock market as a whole, the analysts said. |
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