By Daniel Inman
Japanese stocks traded cautiously Tuesday before the Bank of
Japan's policy decision, while a decline in Samsung Electronics
weighed on the South Korean market.
After falling sharply against the yen last week, the U.S. dollar
(USDJPY) continued to edge closer to the closely watched Yen100
mark overnight -- recently at Yen98.83 compared with Yen98.76 late
Monday in New York.
The dollar was supported after Standard & Poor's upgraded
its ratings outlook on the U.S. to stable from negative on Monday,
citing the country's strong economic performance.
Investors were cautious before the Bank of Japan's policy
meeting, scheduled to conclude on Tuesday. Central bank Gov.
Haruhiko Kuroda is expected to maintain the easy monetary policy
launched earlier this year. Some economists expect the Bank of
Japan could extend its low-priced fund-supplying operation to two
years or longer from one year.
Any surprises from the central bank could fuel the volatility
that has dominated Japanese stocks since the market started to sell
off on May 23. The index is now roughly 15.4% lower than its recent
peak.
Japanese stocks were little-changed before the meeting, with the
Nikkei Stock Average down 0.2% after Monday's 4.9% surge.
Softbank Corp. (9984.TO) fell 0.5% in Tokyo after the company
agreed to raise its offer for Sprint Nextel Corp. (US-S) to $21.6
billion from $20.1 billion previously.
Also in Tokyo, Olympus Corp. (OCPNF) lost 1.9% after the Tokyo
Stock Exchange said it would remove the company's "security on
alert" designation, nearly one and a half years after the warning
was issued due to problems with the company's internal
controls.
South Korea's Kospi Composite declined 0.7%, with the index
weighed by its single largest constituent, Samsung Electronics Co.
(SSNLF), which lost 2.2% on concerns that its Galaxy S4 smartphone
may not be selling as well as expected.
Australia resumed trading after closing on Monday for a public
holiday, getting its first chance to react to the events that
influenced the previous session -- namely, last week's
forecast-beating U.S. nonfarm payrolls data and disappointing
Chinese economic data that came out over the weekend.
The S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.2%.
Markets in mainland China remained closed for a three-day public
holiday, though Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong remained
weighed by the poor economic data out over the weekend. The Hang
Seng China Enterprises Index was down 0.5% and the Hang Seng Index
was off 0.5%.
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