Reuters: Market News: Nikkei slips for 3rd day, Fanuc falls in heavy trade

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Nikkei slips for 3rd day, Fanuc falls in heavy trade Mar 30th 2012, 02:04 Tweet Share this Email Print Thu Mar 29, 2012 10:04pm EDT * Nikkei down 0.2 pct, Topix falls 0.3 pct * Fanuc falls in heavy volume after rating downgrade * Exporters down on yen * Lower Japan industrial output data weighs on market By Mari Saito TOKYO, March 30 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average slipped for a third session in a row on Friday as many investors locked in profits from a massive Tokyo rally in the January-March period, while industrial robot maker Fanuc slipped in high volume after a rating downgrade. Despite the day's dip, the benchmark is still up more than 19 percent since January, set to log its best first-quarter performance in 24 years as robust U.S. economic data and accommodative central bank policies drove a global equities rally. Market players said the benchmark was in a much-needed correction after the surge and was likely to consolidate around current levels ahead of key economic data and events next week. "I do think there is a strong possibility that the U.S. data released next week will spur a market correction," said Ryota Sakagami, chief strategist of equity research at SMBC Nikko Securities. "There are just not a lot of events for the market to trade at the moment and the market is getting overheated, so unless there is some news that can really push the market one level higher, I do think there will be a correction," Sakagami said. The benchmark Nikkei eased 0.2 percent to 10,093.68, stepping further away from the one-year closing high of 10,255.15 hit on Tuesday. Also contributing to the fall, Japan's industrial production unexpectedly fell in February for the first time in three months in a sign that overseas demand is slow to recover. The broader Topix index slipped 0.3 percent to 855.52. Fanuc Corp shed 1.9 percent and plumbed a two-week low after UBS downgraded the industrial robot maker to "sell" from "neutral", citing the risk of a slowdown in global manufacturing purchasing managers' indexes. The stock topped the main board as the most heavily traded stock by turnover. Exporters fell on the slightly stronger yen, with the dollar last traded at 82.30 yen after falling to a three-week low of 81.90 on Thursday. Toyota Motor Corp fell 0.7 percent, Panasonic dropped 1.2 percent and Sony Corp slipped 1.7 percent. Market participants said even with the more than 19 percent rally since January, Japanese equities remained attractive because they are still undervalued compared to their global peers. According to Thomson Reuters Datastream, Japan's Topix carries a 12-month forward price-to-book ratio of 1.0 compared with 2.0 for the S&P 500 and 1.4 for the STOXX Europe 600. The Dow eked out a slim gain overnight but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended down after the latest U.S. jobless claims data. The figures for the latest week fell to a four-year low but for the prior week were revised higher, which some took as another sign that the labour market recovery may be stalling. Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

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