Japan Stock Futures Fall on U.S. Manufacturing, Rising Yen – Bloomberg

Japanese stock futures fell after
data on U.S. manufacturing missed estimates and the yen rose to
a four-week high versus the dollar, damping earnings prospects
for exporters.

American depositary receipts of Sony Corp. (6758), an electronics
maker that gets 19 percent of its sales in the U.S., fell 1.5
percent from the closing share price in Tokyo. ADRs of Nissan
Motor Co. (7201), Japan’s third-largest carmaker by market value, slid
1.2 percent as Japanese vehicle sales fell by the most in six
quarters after government subsidies ended. BHP Billiton Ltd.,
Australia’s biggest oil producer, lost 0.2 percent in Sydney
after crude prices fell.

Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average (NKY) expiring in
June closed at 12,060 in Chicago yesterday, down from 12,180 in
Osaka, Japan. They were bid in the pre-market at 12,060 in Osaka
at 8:05 a.m. local time. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.6
percent today. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index dropped 0.4 percent in
Wellington. Markets in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong
reopen today after a four-day weekend.

“The bar has been set quite high now after such a long
stretch of economic data outperforming expectations, and we are
likely to go through a period when economic data will miss
expectations,” said Nader Naeimi, Sydney-based head of dynamic
asset allocation at AMP Capital Investors Ltd., which manages
$126 billion. “Markets are quite vulnerable to a corrective
stage.”

U.S. Manufacturing

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPXL1) were little
changed today. The index fell 0.5 percent in New York yesterday,
retreating from a record high, as the Institute for Supply
Management’s factory index fell to 51.3 in March from 54.2
February, the Tempe, Arizona-based group said. The median
forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for 54. A
reading of 50 is the dividing line between growth and
contraction.

In Asia, the Bank of Japan’s Tankan index yesterday showed
pessimism among large manufacturers, while data on South Korean
exports and China factory output trailed forecasts.

The yen reached 93.06 per dollar today, the highest level
since March 6, after rising against all of its 16 major
counterparts yesterday. A stronger yen cuts the value of
overseas earnings at Japanese exporters when repatriated.

West Texas Intermediate oil for May delivery dropped 16
cents to settle at $97.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile
Exchange.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) gained 3.7 percent this year
through yesterday, led by Japanese shares on speculation the
nation will deploy more stimulus. The Asia benchmark traded at
14.8 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 14.1
times for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and 12.6 times for the
Stoxx Europe 600 Index. The Bank of Japan meets April 3-4 in its
first policy meeting after new Governor Haruhiko Kuroda took
office.

The Bloomberg China-US Equity Index of the most-traded
Chinese companies in the U.S. declined 1 percent to a two-week
low of 91.29 yesterday in New York.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Yoshiaki Nohara in Tokyo at
ynohara1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Nick Gentle at
ngentle2@bloomberg.net.