Tokyo shares close morning mixed; Nikkei 225 lower ahead of special quotation

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - Share prices closed the morning mixed, with the Nikkei 225 lower on falls among high tech stocks and futures-led selling ahead of the special quotation for the expiry of March futures and options contracts tomorrow, dealers said. The Nikkei 225 index closed down 101.79 points at 12,622.10, off a high of 12,717.16 and a low of 12,591.38. Volume was an estimated 309 mln shares. The Topix was down 2.84 points at 1,233.30, while the Nikkei 300 was up 0.12 at 251.66. The Nikkei March futures contract was down 90 points at 12,630 on the Osaka exchange and at 12,620 on the SGX. There were 585 decliners and 630 gainers,with 221 stocks unchanged. Yamamaru Securities head of information Hidetoshi Nakanishi said that overall trading was directionless, as investors are reluctant to take any fresh positions ahead of the Liberal Democratic Party meeting Tuesday, at which Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori is expected to formally announce his resignation. He added that investors are also waiting for the Nikkei 225 reshuffle announcement, expected Tuesday, as well as a government announcement on measures to support the equity market tomorrow. "Investors are expecting some services firms, such as Orix and Takashimaya will be included into the Nikkei 225," he said. "Until the formal announcements of these, investors will not turn to trade actively," he said, adding that he expects the Nikkei 225 to rise after the announcements. "Next week will be a turn around for the equity market," Makanishi said. "In addition, the NASDAQ started trading firmly, despite continued earnings concern. The NASDAQ may rebound further after (the release of) non-farm payroll data," he said. Nakanishi said that capital expenditure data for the fourth quarter released today did not have a major positive impact on theequity market. Capital expenditure for the fourth quarter in parent-level total industries was up 7.1 pct year-on-year, higher than market expectations of around 5.0 pct, he said. "However, the figure is not surprising," he said, adding that it provided a firm downside support to the equity market. High-techs were lower, with Rohm 550 lower at 19,490 yen, Advantest down 160 at 12,420, and Kyocera 530 lower at 9,960. Semiconductor stocks were broadly lower, with Fujitsu 22 lower at 1,573, NEC 70 lower at 1,765, and Toshiba 3 higher at 684. Mizuho Holdings were 24,000 higher at 706,000, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi 26 higher at 1,201, and Sumitomo Bank 19 higher at 1,144, on a report by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun that the coalition government parties are studying the establishment of a special entity that will buy up shares sold onto the secondary market as a result of the unwinding of cross-shareholdings. Steel stocks were mixed with Nippon Steel unchanged at 206, Kawasaki Steel 1 higher at 125, and NKK 1 lower at 87.

Related stock : (NIL)