Japan Stocks Down On Earnings, But Off Early Lows

Japanese stocks took a trip to the downside in choppy trading early Wednesday, weighed by a rising yen and falling U.S. shares, as well as mostly disappointing earnings reports. The Nikkei Average managed to erase some of its initial losses but was still down 0.1% about 35 minutes into the session, while the broader Topix was 0.2% weaker. The retreat came after modest losses for Wall Street and an advance for the yen, as the dollar eased to �119.77 after trading north of �120 a day earlier. Data showing Japan ran a wider-than-expected current-account surplus in March appeared to have little impact. Instead, earnings drove some of the movers, most of them falling. Telecom major KDDI Corp. weakened by 4.2% after posting 33% net-profit growth for the previous fiscal year but also forecasting slowing profit gains this year. Among the tech shares, Casio Computer Co. lost 3.2%, possibly also linked to news that Casio President Kazuo Kashio would step aside in favor of his son, Kazuhiro. Other shares declining after an earnings report included those of Pioneer Corp. (down 1.3%), Renesas Electronics Corp. (down 1.5%), and Isuzu Motors Ltd. (down 3.2%). On the other hand, Trend Micro Inc. improved by 4.5% as quarterly net profit fell 9% but revenue rose 9%, and Sumitomo Metal Metal Mining Co. added 1.9% after posting its financials. Among the largest-cap names, Toshiba Corp. rose 2.3%, extending its rebound off of monster losses posted on Monday, while Sharp Corp. lost another 1.9% as it said it would still seek to drastically reduce its capital level but not by as much as previously reported. Deal news also had an impact on some shares: Konica Minolta Inc. rose 1.4% as its All Covered Inc. unit in the U.S. bought unlisted Techcess Solutions, and Fujifilm Holdings Corp. climbed a milder 0.3% after striking an agreement to buy U.S. digital health startup TeraMedica.