* Banks of Japan keeps monetary policy steady
* Receding yen strength provides index support
* Exporters remain strong
* Sharp down on report to post bigger net loss
By Mari Saito
TOKYO, April 10 (Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei share average
pared gains in afternoon trade on Tuesday, but still looked
poised to end a five-session losing streak after the Bank of
Japan held back from additional easing measures at its policy
meeting.
The yen, which strengthened slightly on the announcement,
gave a lift to exporters that have been heavily sold recently.
The benchmark Nikkei was up 0.2 percent at 9,566.66,
retreating from the midday break when it was up 0.8 percent.
St ill, the index looked likely to end in positive territory
after losing more than 5 percent in the previous five sessions.
Strategists said the BOJ’s decision to keep monetary policy
steady was expected, but there was some selling among investors
who had hoped for some asset-buying similar to the bank’s action
in February.
“Despite the overall market expectation that the BOJ would
not act at their meeting today, there was still some
anticipation in the morning and you can see those gains now
reversing,” said Eiji Kinouchi, chief technical analyst at Daiwa
Securities.
Most market participants expect the central bank to expand
its asset-buying programme – a process known as easing – when it
issues its economic outlook and price forecasts on April 27.
The broader Topix index was up 0.3 percent at
816.30.
Exporters were still in demand, with Toyota Motor Corp
, Honda Motor Co, Nissan Motor Co and
TDK Corp up between 1.2 and 1.8 percent.
Sharp Corp fell 4.7 percent after a Nikkei report
said the electronics maker was expected to post a bigger net
loss for the 2011 fiscal year than previously projected, hurt by
poor sales of televisions and solar cells.
“The overall feedback from long-term investors is that there
is no long-term story in place which can justify taking a two-to
three-year position on Sharp,” a dealer at a foreign bank said.
