A better-than-expected financial report from Intel may help move Japanese shares higher on Wednesday, despite another negative lead-in from Wall Street. Japan joined many Asia-Pacific counterparts in a move to lower ground on Tuesday. The blue chip Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed down 220.23 points or 1.3 percent at 17,137.92, its lowest finish in seven sessions. The broader TOPIX index dropped 32.19 points or 1.9 percent to 1,625.25. Declining stocks outnumbered advancers 1,520 to 146, with 55 remaining unchanged. Volume was estimated 1.91 billion shares. The decline in Tokyo was led by financial shares and news from Nomura Holdings Inc. that it will get out of the residential mortgage-backed securities market. The brokerage also said it will cut its U.S. staff by up to 1,300. Nomura shares ended the day 10 yen or 0.5 percent lower. Elsewhere in the financial sector, shares of Japan's second-largest brokerage house, Daiwa Securities Group, lost 36 yen or 3.0 percent. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group dropped 68 yen or 6.0 percent and Mizuho Financial Group sank 34,000 yen or 5.1 percent. A jump in crude oil prices sent oil stocks higher. Nippon Oil moved 2 yen or 0.2 percent higher and Cosmo Oil gained 17 yen or 3.3 percent. Oil exploration firm INPEX holdings closed up 30,000 yen or 2.4 percent. Mitsui Mining gained 4.46 percent. In overseas trading, Wall Street stocks moved to lower ground again on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the day at 13,912.94, down by 71.86, or 0.51 percent after falling more than 100 points earlier in the session. Broader indices were also lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 10.18, or 0.66 percent, to 1,538.53, and the Nasdaq composite index slipped 16.14, or 0.58 percent, to 2,763.91. Closer to home, Australia's ASX200 index closed 47 points lower to 6692 and the All Ordinaries dropped 40.3 points to 6711.3. New Zealand's NZX-50 index dropped 12.93 points or 0.3 percent to close at 4,312.17. In economic news scheduled for official release this week, Japan's August Tertiary Industry Index, Coincident Index and Leading Economic Index reports are on the docket along with September Machine Tool Orders.
October 16, 2007 7:25 PM