Nikkei drops as yen firms on dismal U.S. economic data; Advantest slumps
31/07/2020 04:37
TOKYO, July 31 (Reuters) - Japanese shares dropped on Friday
as the safe-haven yen strengthened on dismal U.S. economic data,
while semi-conductor maker Advantest 6857.T plunged on weak
earnings to lead the largest percentage losses in the index.
The Nikkei share average .N225 fell 1.87% to 21,920.98 by
the midday break, while the broader Topix .TOPX lost 1.8% to
1,511.82.
All but one of the 33 sector sub-indexes traded in the red,
with rubber products .IRUBR.T , paper and pulp .IPAPR.T and
metal products .IMETL.T leading the declines.
Data on Thursday showed that the U.S. economy contracted by
32.9% in the second quarter, the deepest decline since the Great
Depression. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2F02LD
In a separate report, the U.S. Labor Department data
indicated that jobless claims increased 12,000 to a seasonally
adjusted 1.434 million in the week ending July 25.
Worries over a delay in economic recovery kept the U.S.
dollar under pressure, falling as low as 104.20 JPY= in Asia
trade.
Further dampening the sentiment were a slew of weak
corporate earnings, with Advantest plunging 14.93% at a
daily-limit low, after the semi-conductor firm announced a 23.3%
drop in its operating profit forecast for the year through
March.
Panasonic Corp 6752.T dropped 12.66% after the company
said it expects annual profit to halve this financial year.
Komatsu Ltd 6301.T fell 8.19% as the construction
equipment maker forecast its operating profit to plunge this
fiscal year. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2F121F
Oriental Land 4461.T lost 1.28% after the firm logged a
net loss of 24.87 billion yen for April-June quarter.
Among gainers, SoftBank-backed online fashion retailer Zozo
Inc 3092.T was last untraded with glut of buy orders, at a
daily-limit high after strong earnings.
(Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
((eimi.yamamitsu@thomsonreuters.com;))