TOKYO, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Japanese shares retreated to
one-week lows on Thursday as doubts over an interim U.S.-China
trade deal lifted the safe-haven yen, while Line Corp and Z
Holdings surged on news that the Yahoo Japan operator was in
merger talks with messaging app firm Line.
The Nikkei share average .N225 dropped 0.2% to 23,263.96
by the midday break, its lowest since Nov. 7, and the broader
Topix .TOPX retreated 0.5% to 1,691.98, also a one-week low.
Dashing upbeat expectations about a phase one deal was a
Wall Street Journal report that said Sino-U.S. negotiations had
"hit a snag" over farm purchases, with Beijing not wanting a
deal that looks one-sided in favour of the United States.
In the cautious climate, the safe-haven yen firmed as high
as 108.66 overnight and was last quoted at 108.79 JPY= against
the dollar, weighing on Japanese exporters as a strong local
currency hurts corporate profits when they are repatriated.
Export-oriented Nissan Motor 7201.T fell 2.2%, Honda Motor
7267.T shed 1.4%, and Toyota Motor 7203.T dropped 0.8%.
Z Holdings 4689.T , which last month changed its name from
Yahoo Japan, soared 15.9% after the internet firm said merger
discussions were underway with Line Corp 3938.T .
Shares in Line were untraded with a glut of buy orders,
while SoftBank Corp 9434.T , which owns almost half of Z
Holdings, climbed 1.5%.
The merger talks between Z Holdings and Line also put
pressure on their competitors, with Rakuten Inc 4755.T diving
5.5%.
Z Holdings was the most traded stock on the main board,
while SoftBank Corp was the third-most, and Rakuten was the
sixth-most traded issues on the Topix.
The information and telecom sector .ICOMS.T rose 0.6% to
become the second-best performer among Tokyo's 33 subsector
indexes.
Elsewhere, Toshiba Corp 6502.T jumped 2.4% after the firm
reported its highest quarterly profit in two years and said it
would buy out three of its listed subsidiaries as the industrial
conglomerate moves on from accounting scandals and a management
crisis.