TOKYO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei index ended
lower on Thursday, marking a retreat from its near two-month
highs, as the benchmark index tracked downbeat performances on
Wall Street after investors positioned for a protracted period
of high U.S. interest rates.
The earnings season witnessed a mix of big winners and
losers. Materials maker Teijin and Pacific Metals posted gains of about 6% each following upbeat
quarterly earnings, while Fujifilm sagged 2.38%.
The Nikkei share average ended 0.08% lower at
27,584.35, but hovered above the 27,500 level it had scaled
late-January. At the start of the week, the index hit its
highest since mid-December at 27,821.22 amid strong earnings
results.
The broader Topix inched up 0.05% to 1,985.00.
All three big U.S. stock indexes dropped overnight, led by
the tech-heavy Nasdaq, as a chorus of Fed speakers backed the
idea of more hikes and high rates for longer.
The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index dropped 2.2%.
The drop hurt Japanese chip-related stocks as well.
Chip-making equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron slumped 2.14% and shaved off 34 points off the Nikkei, making it
the biggest drag. Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest was next, subtracting 8.2 index points with a 1.18%
slide.
"The market is shifting to the view that there won't be any
monetary loosening by the Fed this year, and some people who had
been thinking the peak in rates would come in March now think
there's probably going to be another hike after that," Kazuo
Kamitani, a strategist at Nomura in Tokyo, said.
U.S. consumer price data on Tuesday will provide a crucial
clue to Fed policy direction, he said, and until then both U.S.
and Japanese stock markets are likely to be broadly
directionless.
Toyota Motor cut its early losses to edge up 0.18%
after posting a surprise 22% rise in third-quarter operating
profit.
Of the Nikkei's 225 components, 111 rose versus 107 that
fell, with 7 flat.
(Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips
and Uttaresh.V)
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