Tokyo stocks could face selling pressure next week as investors cash in their recent gains while paying close attention to whether the yen slides further, brokers said. "Profit-taking is likely to emerge next week after the Nikkei index continued to rise steadily for the past weeks," said Masatoshi Sato, strategist at Mizuho Investors Securities.
"But there may be a chance of further gains next week if the yen declines again," Sato said. "We will keep paying attention to the foreign exchange market next week as well." On Friday, Tokyo stocks ended higher for the third straight day as the dollar held above 80 yen.
The dollar stood at 80.31 yen late Friday in Tokyo, compared with 79.98 late Thursday in New York, while the euro was trading at $1.3371 and 107.36 yen, compared with $1.3369 and 106.94.
After the Nikkei's recent rapid rally, "the index is in a price-adjustment phase," said SMBC Nikko Securities strategist Masashi Akutsu told Dow Jones Newswires. Shinkin Asset Management fund manager Naoki Fujiwara noted that overall market sentiment remained bullish, but "without further weakness in the yen, the index won't likely reach 9,800". In the week to February 24, the Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange added 2.80 percent, or 263.21 points, to 9,647.38, with the broader Topix index of all first-section issues up 2.94 percent, or 23.84 points, at 834.29.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.