Nikkei steady after 4-day losing streak on Fed policy, corporate earnings

Kao

30/07/2020 04:44

TOKYO, July 30 (Reuters) - Japan's stock benchmark Nikkei
traded steady on Thursday after four straight sessions of falls,
as the U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates at ultra-low
levels and investors cheered a slew of upbeat earnings reports.
    The benchmark Nikkei average  .N225  edged higher 0.05% to
22,408.29 by the midday break, while the broader Topix  .TOPX 
slipped 0.21% to 1,545.79.
    Nearly a third of the 33 sector sub-indexes on the Tokyo
exchange traded higher, with securities  .ISECU.T , precise
machinery  .IPRCS.T  and information and telecom  .ICOMS.T 
being the three top performing sectors.
    At the end of its two-day policy meeting, the Fed repeated a
pledge to use its "full range of tools" to support the economy
and keep interest rates near zero, while cautioning that the
outlook "will depend significantly on the course of the virus."
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nW1N2DS00Q
    All three Wall Street indexes finished higher following the
policy announcement.  .N 
    Among individual gainers in Japan, M3  2413.T  rose 5.08% to
a record high after the company reported a 26.4% jump in
operating profit for the April-June quarter.
    Nomura Holdings  8604.T  added 4.63% after reporting its
second-best quarterly profit since 2002.
    Meanwhile, ANA Holdings  9202.T  inched down 0.56% after the
airline logged 159 billion yen quarterly operating loss as the
coronavirus pandemic curbed travel.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2F01T9
    Kao Corporation  4452.T  slipped 4.48% after the toiletry
goods maker cut its profit forecast for the year through March.
    Elsewhere, Nikkei heavyweight SoftBank Group  9984.T  added
1.68% after the tech conglomerate said it had set up a testing
centre to diagnose COVID-19 using saliva.

 (Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
 ((eimi.yamamitsu@thomsonreuters.com;))