Nikkei Falters; 1st 4-wk Losing Streak in a year

TOKYO: Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.5 per cent on Friday and logged its first four-week losing streak in over a year, with Sony sliding after its new growth strategy failed to reassure investors. Helping to temper the Nikkei's decline were gains in banking stocks, battered recently by concerns about fundraising after top lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group announced a massive share sale this week.
The Nikkei slid 2.8 per cent on the week for its fourth straight weekly drop, the first such losing streak since a four-week period during September-October 2008, when equities tumbled globally on a wave of deleveraging and the unwinding of risky carry trades.

The Nikkei extended its declines this week, hurt by a recent flurry of equity financing, uncertainty about the economic policies of the new Democratic Party-led government and the yen's rise against the dollar.
Adding to the selling pressure was loss-cut selling by Japanese retail investors in margin trading, and there was also some talk of selling by overseas investors during the week.

"When you think about why shares have been falling, one reason is that with the change in the government, it has become hard to get a good read on economic policy," said Tsutomu Yamada, market analyst at Kabu.com Securities.

"The key is whether they can come up with a strategy that will convince people that there won't be a double-dip in the economy next year or in the next fiscal year," Yamada said. The Nikkei fell 51.79 points to a four-month closing low of 9,497.68.