Japan's Nikkei closes at one-month high; JFE slides

JFE Holdings

05/09/2023 07:58

By Kevin Buckland
       TOKYO, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks closed at
their highest levels in a month on Tuesday, even as
profit-taking emerged as the Nikkei index rose afresh above the
key 33,000 mark and speculation about new share sales also
weighed on sentiment.
    The Nikkei 225 share average  .N225  ended 0.3% up at
33,036.76, after dancing around the psychological 33,000 mark
for the first time in more than a month in the session.
    The broader Topix  .TOPX  blipped 0.17% higher to 2,377.85,
after renewing a 33-year high by reaching 2,379.57.
    Both indexes logged seven-day winning streaks, the longest
run since mid-May.
    JFE Holdings  5411.T  led decliners on the Nikkei by a wide
margin, sliding 6% after the Nikkei newspaper said the
steelmaker seeks to raise as much as 120 billion yen ($818.39
million) through a public share offering and another 90 billion
yen by offering five-year convertible bonds to international
investors in September.
    The company later announced its board had approved a 211.4
billion yen fundraising plan, including a 121.5 billion yen
share offering.
    The iron & steel sector  .ISTEL.T  was by far the worst
performer among the Tokyo Stock Exchange's 33 industry groups,
tumbling more than 2.5% at one stage and closing down 1.08%. It
was the lead gainer on Monday with a 4.11% rally.
    "I'm not surprised to see some weakness in the market
today," said Kenji Abe, an equity strategist at Daiwa
Securities. "Japanese stocks have performed so well, it's very
natural for investors to take some profits."
    Meanwhile, the JFE news "raises concerns about the supply
and demand balance for Japanese equities," he said. "Now, stock
prices are high, so I think more companies may consider issuing
new equities."
    Overall though, Abe expects the Nikkei to gradually rise
towards his end-March forecast of 35,000, buoyed in the near
term by upward revisions to analysts' earnings estimates
following this summer's strong earnings season. 
        
($1 = 146.6300 yen)

 (Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and
Eileen Soreng)
 ((Kevin.Buckland@thomsonreuters.com;))