Japanese stocks pare early gains ahead of Fed meeting

Kyocera

20/09/2022 03:56

By Sam Byford
    Sept 20 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks marked slight gains in
back-and-forth trading on Tuesday as investors braced for this
week's long-awaited U.S. Federal Reserve meeting, where the
central bank is expected to announce another big rate hike to
tackle inflation.
    As markets resumed trading after a national holiday, the
Nikkei share index  .N225  opened 0.8% higher and rose as much
as 1.23% before paring gains to finish up 0.42% at the break. 
    The broader Topix index  .TOPX  added 0.43%.
    Markets are fully pricing in a Fed rate hike of at least 75
basis points, with an 18% chance seen of a full percentage point
rise.  FEDWATCH 
    "It would be a negative surprise for the market if a 100 bps
rate hike was decided, and the Nikkei share average would likely
test lower levels," said a domestic asset manager.
    The Nikkei saw 155 of its 225 constituents mark gains, while
67 fell and three traded flat.
    The index's climb was largely driven by technology stocks,
in line with overnight results from the Nasdaq 100  .NDX  and
the Philadelphia semiconductor index  .SOX .
    Chipmaking equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron Ltd
 8035.T  rose 1.27% and tech conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp
added 1.28%. Both are major contributors to the Nikkei.
    Other strong tech performers included TDK Corp  6762.T ,
Kyocera Corp  6971.T  and KDDI Corp  9433.T .
    Pacific Metals Co Ltd  5541.T  saw the biggest individual
rise on the Nikkei, up 5.57%. Konami Group Corp  9766.T  notched
the largest loss, falling 4.76%.
    Healthcare was one of the few sectors to drop overall,
tracking overnight losses on Wall Street. Kyowa Kirin Co Ltd
 4151.T  lost 2.62%, M3 Inc  2413.T  dropped 2.37% and Terumo
Corp  4543.T  fell 1.55%.
    The real estate sector also weakened. Mitsui Fudosan Co Ltd
 8801.T  dropped 2.10% and Tokyo Tatemono Co Ltd  8804.T  fell
1.93%.

 (Reporting by Sam Byford and Tokyo markets team; Editing by
Devika Syamnath)
 ((Sam.Byford@thomsonreuters.com;))