Investors may take a wait-and-see stance until the Bank of Japan comes out with its policy statement.
Investors have been sensitive to any U.S. economic reports. The housing report brought them some relief.
Investors sell futures contracts speculating about a further fall in the cash market in the afternoon, so by the time the cash market opens, investors turn bearish -- it's a vicious cycle.
There's not disappointment here, but also nothing to move the market. We still hold out hope for reform and will continue to watch developments carefully.
The trend is for a weaker dollar, which will hurt companies, especially exporters.
The slide in U.S. stocks looks non-stop. This is not a good sign for Tokyo, especially for high-tech exporters,
Buyers are on the sidelines with the U.S. third quarter earnings announcements picking up speed, and more loss warnings are expected from Japanese companies.
It's hard to find shares of exporters to be attractive when the situation in the U.S. seems pessimistic.
High-tech issues are surrounded by persistent fears over possible profit warnings as we get closer to the mid-year book closing in September.
There's greater concern now about further U.S. interest rate increases and that will dampen the overall Japanese market. Natural resources-related shares may rise, but hi-tech and autos may fall on concern about reduced overseas demand.
