Japan stocks fall from one-week high on dour earnings, firmer yen

By Stanley White
TOKYO, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Japanese shares retreated from a
one-week high on Wednesday as downbeat earnings reports
underscored the economic blow from the COVID-19 pandemic and a
firmer yen weighed on exporters.
The Nikkei index .N225 ended down 0.26% at 22,514.85, with
the telecommunications and the consumer discretionary sectors
leading the declines.
The broader Topix .TOPX fell 0.04% to 1,554.71.
The Nikkei has rallied 37% from this year's low hit in March
but has recently struggled to break above resistance around
23,000 as investors turn more cautious in the face of rising
coronavirus cases at home and elsewhere.
"This is a retrenchment because the earnings so far have not
been that good," said Kiyoshi Ishigane, chief fund manager at
Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co.
"There's a sense that Japanese companies are lagging behind
American and European corporate earnings."
Highlighting the impact of the pandemic, Mitsubishi UFJ
Financial Group Inc (MUFG) 8306.T , Japan's largest lender by
assets, said on Tuesday its net profit more than halved.

Shares in MUFG fell 0.17% on Wednesday.
Sony Corp 6758.T , another major company to report earnings
on Tuesday, ended 1.61% lower as worries over its future
earnings eclipsed better-than-expected results from the company.
More Japanese companies are set to report earnings in the
coming days.
There were 99 advancers on the Nikkei index against 122
decliners.
The underperformers among the top 30 core Topix names were
SoftBank Group Corp 9984.T , down 4.19%, followed by East Japan
Railway Co 9020.T , losing 2.44%.
The stocks that gained the most among the Topix 30 were
Hitachi Ltd 6501.T , up 3.2%, followed by Nintendo Co Ltd
7974.T , which rose 3.17% before its earnings on Thursday.
The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
main board .TOPX was 1.2 billion, compared with the average of
1.2 billion in the past 30 days.