TOKYO, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Japanese shares were little
changed on Thursday after the United States and China signed an
interim deal to defuse their 18-month long trade war, with
factory automation machinery makers under pressure on soft data.
The Nikkei share average .N225 added 0.1% to 23,950.90 by
the midday break, while the broader Topix .TOPX eased 0.1% to
1,730.15.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He
on Wednesday signed a deal that will roll back some tariffs and
see China boost purchases of U.S. goods and services by $200
billion over two years. However, the deal does not address structural economic
issues that led to the conflict, and does not fully eliminate
most of the tariffs imposed by both sides, while the $200
billion purchase targets look daunting to achieve. "Given the amount of speculation by the markets and
commentary by officials ahead of Wednesday's signing, it is
unsurprising markets have not rallied too strongly upon final
signing," said Hannah Anderson, global markets strategist at
JPMorgan Asset Management in Hong Kong.
Indeed, Tokyo-listed shares reacted more to domestic
matters.
Factory automation machinery makers came under pressure
after the Japan Machine Tool Builders' Association released
flash orders data for December, which showed machine tool orders
slumped 33.6% year-on-year last month.
Yaskawa Electric Corp 6506.T shed 2.8%, SMC Corp dropped
6273.T and Makino Milling Machine 6135.T fell 1.2%.
Elsewhere, sports gear maker Asics Corp 7936.T jumped 4.7%
after British media reported that World Athletics may ban the
use of Nike's NKE.N controversial running shoes with
super-think soles.