Nikkei snaps winning streak, shippers steam higher

By Elaine Lies

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average snapped a four-day winning streak on Friday to end down 0.2 percent as investors locked in profits and exporters such as Canon Inc were sold on a slightly stronger yen, but the benchmark still saw its strongest week in 3 months.

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd and other shippers buoyed the market, extending gains on continuing demand for iron ore into China that helped push the Baltic Exchange's chief sea freight index to a record high. Mizuho Financial Group and other banks climbed after Mizuho, Japan's second-largest bank, said it aimed to buy back up to 400 billion yen ($3.8 billion) of its own shares in the current year. But by late trade they had pared gains as profit-taking picked up pace and the market shrugged off unexpectedly strong Japanese first quarter gross domestic product data.

"We had four straight days of rises, so people are taking profits now ahead of the weekend," said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Shinko Securities, noting that the Nikkei's inability to break above 14,500 could set the stage for some selling next week. "Though we could go higher depending on how Wall Street does tonight, after this week's rises there is a bit of overheating and this is a natural place for some downward adjustment."

Japan's economy unexpectedly picked up pace in the first quarter as exports weathered a U.S downturn, but firms shrank from investment as they braced for slowing global growth and high energy costs to hit the world's No.2 economy.

"The GDP was good, but now there's worries that the next quarter's figures won't be so good, so the market didn't really get a boost from this," said Fujio Ando, senior managing director at Chibagin Asset Management.

The Nikkei lost 32.26 points to finish at 14,219.48, but still gained 4.1 percent on the week, its best since mid-February. The broader Topix was up 0.2 percent at 1,395.87.

TREND POSITIVE, SHIPPERS STRONG

Though stocks may face some selling pressure next week, the overall trend remains positive, market players said, with investors eager to buy should the Nikkei slide below 14,000.