TOKYO, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Japanese shares took a breather on
Thursday on worries over possibly delays in a first-phase
Sino-U.S. trade deal while Softbank Group slid on its first
quarterly loss in 14 years.
The Nikkei share average .N225 was flat at 23,306.99, not
far off Wednesday's 13-month intraday high of 23,352.56 while
the broader Topix .TOPX gained 0.1% to 1,696.11.
A meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese
President Xi Jinping to sign an interim trade deal could be
delayed until December as discussions continue over terms and
venue, Reuters reported on Wednesday. The report prompted investors to take stock after a strong
rally since mid-October on expectations that Washington and
Beijing will sign a "phase one" deal to suspend their disputes
on trade.
In the past month, the Nikkei had rallied about 8% and Topix
almost 7%.
Those strong gains came even as Japanese corporate earnings
have yet to show a broad-based recovery.
A Reuters Tankan poll on Thursday showed Japanese
manufacturers turned the most pessimistic in 6-1/2 years in
November and the service-sector mood fell to three-year lows,
hurt by the global slowdown, natural disasters and a sales tax
hike at home. Softbank Group 9984.T fell 3.3% after it posted an
operating loss of 704 billion yen ($6.5 billion) in the
July-September quarter due to a writedown on its investment
through its giant Vision Fund on WeWork and Uber Technologies
UBER.N . Mitsubishi Motors 7211.T fell 6.3% after the carmaker
slashed its full-year profit outlook by 67% as it expects
sluggish demand in North America and China to continue.
Graphite electrode maker Tokai Carbon 5301.T lost 6.6% on
disappointing earnings due to slowing demand while rival
manufacturer Showa Denko 4004.T also dropped 2.4% following
its earnings.
On the other hand, Olympus 7733.T soared as much as 16.5%
to a record high after its quarterly earnings beat market
estimates, helped by strong sales of endoscopes.
Medical equipment maker Sysmex 6869.T gained 8.0% and
discount store operator Pan Pacific International 7532.T
jumped 6.8% on brisk earnings.
(Editing by Jacqueline Wong)