Japan's Nikkei down in seesaw trade, oil weighs
(Adds stocks, details)
By Elaine Lies
TOKYO, April 30 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average edged down 0.08 percent on Wednesday, dented by oil-related shares as oil prices slid, but buoyed by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co's surge to its highest this year.
Panasonic maker Matsushita (6752.T) posted on Monday a 15 percent rise in quarterly operating profit thanks to brisk sales of flat TVs, and forecast a larger-than-expected gain this year, with its mobile phones and DVD recorders also selling well. [ID:nT361784] But earnings were taking a toll elsewhere, hitting a wide range of firms including Internet security software company Fujifilm Holdings Corp (4901.T), and Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd (5713.T), both of which slid after gloomy forecasts.
"There's a lot of uncertainty about the overall corporate situation, and things are pretty mixed -- while there is some good news, there aren't enough positive factors to lead to any strong buying," said Katsuhiko Kodama, senior strategist at Toyo Securities Co Ltd.
"There's a mass of sell orders over 14,000 and right now the market doesn't really have the energy to overcome this."
Japan's industrial output fell 3.1 percent in March from a month earlier, well below a market median forecast of a 0.8 percent drop. While this led to sporadic selling, market players said it was not a major factor.
Figures showed that manufacturers' output, the core component of production, is expected to fall 0.3 percent in April but increase 3.4 percent in May. [ID:nT350405]
An earnings-heavy afternoon includes announcements from tradings firms such as Marubeni Corp (8002.T), and top realtors Mitsui Fudosan Co (8801.T) and Mitsubishi Estate Co (8802.T) -- both of which fell after Credit Suisse cut their ratings, although Mitsui Fudosan later recovered.
But market attention was centred mainly on the results of the U.S. Federal Reserve board meeting, with a 25-basis point interest rate cut widely expected but clues to further movements sought.
"There was a bit of selling after industrial production figures came out, but the market's basically shrugged those off. The Fed meeting is far more important, especially whether they say that this is it for interest rate cuts," said Masayoshi Okamoto, head of dealing at Jujiya Securities.
The benchmark Nikkei .N225 shed 10.88 points to 13,883.49, while the broader Topix was nearly flat at 1,361.27 after seesaw trade that saw both briefly venture into positive territory.
MATSUSHITA POWERS UP
Matsushita soared 11.5 percent to 2,380 yen, hitting its highest level since mid-December, after buying impetus on the results was augmented by a ratings upgrade. Credit Suisse raised its rating to "outperform" from "neutral", while Goldman Sachs kept its "neutral" rating but lifted Matsushita's share price target to 2,400 yen from 2,300 yen.
The Nikkei 225 was also boosted by Softbank Corp (9984.T), which jumped 2.9 percent to 2,115 yen after sources close to the matter said it plans to take control of Chinese Internet firm Oak Pacific Interactive for up to 30 billion yen ($288 million) to expand in China. [ID:nT372380]
Sumitomo Metal Mining fell 7.3 percent to 1,901 yen after the copper, nickel and gold producer said on Monday it expects its operating profit to fall 36 percent to 100 billion yen in the year ending in March 2009, hit by a fall in nickel prices, a stronger yen and rising fuel costs.
Oil-related shares slid after oil fell sharply on Tuesday, retreating from a record high as fears over a rash of global supply disruptions began to recede.
Nippon Oil Corp (5001.T), Japan's largest oil distributor, fell 5.4 percent to 716 yen and oil and gas field developer Inpex Holdings (1605.T) was down 4.1 percent at 1.16 million yen.
Trade picked up on the Tokyo exchange's first section, with 921 million shares changing hands, compared with last week's morning average of 790 million.
Advancing stocks beat decliners by 845 to 713. (Editing by Brent Kininmont)
