The yen is a little softer, and so are Japanese stocks. In the early minutes, Tokyo is holding on to a modest deficit, with the Nikkei Average down 0.2% (it rose 0.8% yesterday) and the Topix down 0.1% ahead the always-a-big-deal U.S. jobs report later in the global day.
The dollar is buying 103.91 yen, up a bit from ¥103.87 at this time yesterday.
Among the movers, convenience-store maven Seven & I is down 1%, failing to get recognition for its 27% rise in net profit for the just-ended fiscal year, with a forecast gain of about 5% for the current fiscal year.
And remember those “Disco Sucks” t-shirts from the 1970s? Well such is not the case for tool-maker Disco Corp, at least according to a Nikkei report saying its fiscal-year operating profit will beat forecasts. All the same, Disco shares are grooving 1.2% lower this morning, not too surprising after they rose almost 6% so far this week.
It’s a similar story for Taisho Pharma, with its stock 2.1% lower despite a separate Nikkei report promising a record operating profit for last fiscal year. (Although in this case, Taisho has traded modestly weaker this past week.)
Meanwhile, the auto sector is looking bi-polar in morning moves, with Nissan up 0.3%, and Mazda up 1.5%, but Honda down 0.7%, and Toyota down 0.3% as a key vote at two Toyota plants in Canada on whether to unionize is delayed.
And in other union-related news, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ will be the first major Japanese lender to allow a large-scale union, according to the Nikkei, though the market seems fine with this, as shares of parent Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are flat.
The dollar is buying 103.91 yen, up a bit from ¥103.87 at this time yesterday.
Among the movers, convenience-store maven Seven & I is down 1%, failing to get recognition for its 27% rise in net profit for the just-ended fiscal year, with a forecast gain of about 5% for the current fiscal year.
And remember those “Disco Sucks” t-shirts from the 1970s? Well such is not the case for tool-maker Disco Corp, at least according to a Nikkei report saying its fiscal-year operating profit will beat forecasts. All the same, Disco shares are grooving 1.2% lower this morning, not too surprising after they rose almost 6% so far this week.
It’s a similar story for Taisho Pharma, with its stock 2.1% lower despite a separate Nikkei report promising a record operating profit for last fiscal year. (Although in this case, Taisho has traded modestly weaker this past week.)
Meanwhile, the auto sector is looking bi-polar in morning moves, with Nissan up 0.3%, and Mazda up 1.5%, but Honda down 0.7%, and Toyota down 0.3% as a key vote at two Toyota plants in Canada on whether to unionize is delayed.
And in other union-related news, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ will be the first major Japanese lender to allow a large-scale union, according to the Nikkei, though the market seems fine with this, as shares of parent Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are flat.