Japanese stocks end lower on caution around virus impact on earnings

SYDNEY, April 9 (Reuters) - Tokyo shares ended lower on
Thursday, even as Wall Street peers rallied, as investors
remained cautious and worried about the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on corporate Japan's earnings.
The benchmark Nikkei average .N225 eased 0.04% to
19,345.77, despite Wednesday's big rally on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI and the S&P 500
.SPX advanced 3.4% each, while the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC
gained 2.6% on hopes that the pandemic may be peaking and Bernie
Sanders' decision to suspend his presidential campaign. .N
"It is a little premature to call an official peak in the
outbreak, even if some optimism is warranted," said Esty Dwek,
head of global market strategy at Natixis Investment Managers.
Japan recorded 503 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday,
its biggest daily increase since the outbreak, underscoring the
struggle of the authorities to contain the disease without
imposing a mandatory lockdown. The Nikkei's volatility index .JNIV , a measure of
investors' volatility expectations based on options pricing and
considered to be a fear gauge, slid to as low as 38.85, its
lowest level in more than two weeks.
"The recent fall in the volatility level does not reflect
bullish sentiment. Rather, it reflects investors' reluctance to
trade," said Yasuo Sakuma, chief investment officer at Libra
Investments.
The overall activity was indeed subdued, with the volume of
shares traded on the main board valued at 2.30 trillion yen
($21.15 billion), its lowest level since February 21.
Bic Camera Inc 3048.T tumbled 8.6% after the electronics
retailer slashed its group profit forecasts for the current
business year through August, citing the impact from the virus
outbreak. "We will look closely at earnings estimates as they are
revised down. Markets may not be factoring in enough
adjustment," said Natixis's Dwek.
The Nikkei's heavyweight SoftBank Group Corp 9984.T added
1.1% after Oyo Hotels and Homes said on Wednesday the
SoftBank-backed Indian startup is furloughing some employees to
cut costs to survive through the coronavirus pandemic.
Nissan Motor Co Ltd 7201.T rose 1.4% after the Nikkei
newspaper said the automaker has requested a 500 billion yen
commitment line from major lenders as sales were battered by the
COVID-19 outbreak. The broader Topix .TOPX fell 0.6% to 1,416.98, with
three-thirds of the 33 sector sub-indexes on the exchange
finishing in negative territory.
Land transport .IRAIL.T , securities .ISECU.T and foods
.IFOOD.T were the worst three performing sectors on the main
bourse.
Startup and small-cap stocks bucked the market's overall
weakness due to bargain hunting by retail investors, with the
index of startup-heavy Mothers market .MTHR climbing 3.8% and
the small-cap Jasdaq index .NOTC adding 1.0%.

($1 = 108.7500 yen)