Japan stocks drift lower ahead of Toyota earnings

Kao

06/08/2020 03:42

By Stanley White
    TOKYO, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Japanese shares edged lower in
choppy trade on Thursday, weighed down by concerns about
corporate profits ahead of Toyota Motor Corp's  7203.T  earnings
announcement later in the day. 
    The Nikkei index  .N225  ticked down 0.47% to 22,408.67 by
0213 GMT, with consumer staples and technology companies falling
the most.
    The broader Topix  .TOPX  fell 0.39% to 1,548.53.
    A series of disappointing earnings and forecasts from
domestic companies due to the COVID-19 pandemic have weighed on
the Japanese market for the past few sessions. 
    Although some investors argue that the decline in corporate
profits has bottomed out and earnings will gradually recover.
    Slated to report on Thursday, Toyota will announce its
results in the afternoon, while Games maker Nintendo Co Ltd
 7974.T  and Kobe Steel  5406.T  will release earnings after the
closing bell.   
    The underperformers among the top 30 core Topix were
automaker Honda Motor Co Ltd  7267.T , down 3.80%, followed by
skin care and cleaning product maker Kao Corp  4452.T , losing
1.79%.
    Honda fell after it forecast a 68% decrease in annual
operating profit and posted its worst quarterly operating loss
since the March 2009 quarter.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2F71OA
    The stocks that gained the most among the Topix 30 names
were commodities trader Mitsui & Co Ltd  8031.T , up 1.87%,
followed by insurer Tokio Marine Holdings Inc  8766.T .
    There were 156 advancers on the Nikkei index against 68
decliners.
    The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
main board  .TOPX  was 0.42 billion, compared with the average
of 1.2 billion in the past 30 days.    

 (Reporting by Stanley White; Editing by Aditya Soni)
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