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Monday July 2, 11:13 AMLEAD: Key Nikkei falls slightly in morning after Tankan(Kyodo) _ (EDS: ADDING DETAILS)The key Nikkei stock index fell slightly Monday morning on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, after the Bank of Japan's closely watched Tankan business confidence survey came out in line with market expectations. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average lost 17.74 points, or 0.10 percent, in the morning to 18,120.62. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was up 2.50 points, or 0.14 percent, to 1,777.38. The key Nikkei average was almost flat at the outset, with investors optimistic about the Japanese economic outlook after the Tankan survey found corporate sentiment steady as expected. The BOJ's business confidence survey, released shortly before the market opened, found that business confidence among major Japanese manufacturers remained unchanged in the three months to June from the previous quarter, after a fall in the January-March period. The BOJ business sentiment index came to 23 for large manufacturers, it said. But the Nikkei lost steam on "profit-taking" after the market's rise to a one-week closing high in the previous session Friday, brokers said. They said the capital spending figure in the Tankan survey, which was weaker than market expectations, contributed to pushing stocks down. The survey found that major manufactures expect their capital spending to rise 7.7 percent in fiscal 2007, which ends next March 31, slightly below the median market forecast of an 8.4 percent rise. "Stocks climbed significantly last week so it is no wonder that investors moved to take profits," said Hiroichi Nishi, equities chief at Nikko Cordial Securities Inc. "The Tankan survey was not that impressive and market energy is rather weak for it to push the stocks higher," he added. Notable losers were insurance, mining and real estate issues. Wholesale, consumer finance and nonferrous metals issues advanced. Major contributors to the decline in the morning were department store operators Takashimaya and Mitsukoshi, which reported sluggish earnings Friday for the March-May quarter. Takashimaya lost 27 yen to 1,529 yen, and Mitsukoshi fell 9 yen to 609 yen. Trading house Mitsubishi rose 50 yen to 3,280 yen after benchmark crude oil futures settled at $70.68 a barrel Friday in New York. Crude oil rose above the $70 mark for the first time in about 10 months, driven by lingering concern about the possibility of a gasoline supply shortage amid the peak driving season. Isuzu Motors, which was the morning's volume leader, rose 22 yen to 690 yen, and Hino Motors climbed 9 yen to 746 yen after a news report said they will cooperate on developing technology to reduce diesel exhaust gas emissions. On the First Section, advancing issues outnumbered declining ones 918 to 655, with 152 shares ending the morning unchanged. Toshiba was the most heavily traded issue in value terms, rising 18 yen to 1,093 yen. Trading volume on the main section increased to 870.38 million shares from Friday morning's 824.04 million. The TSE's Second Section index rose 9.84 points, or 0.23 percent, to 4,198.29 on a volume of 37.41 million shares. On the Osaka Securities Exchange, the near-term September Nikkei 225 index futures contract fell 30 points to 18,130. |
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