* Megabanks, brokers fall on euro zone concerns
* Sharp up 3 pct on high performance panel production
* U.S. earnings likely to be catalyst for market rebound
By Mari Saito
TOKYO, April 16 (Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei share average
fell 1.5 percent on Monday on renewed concerns about Europe’s
debt crisis, hitting major exporters with exposure to the region
as well as big banks and brokers.
The benchmark Nikkei lost 142.24 points to 9,495.75
after gains in the two previous sessions, while the broader
Topix fell 1.2 percent to 805.98.
Rising bond yields in Spain and a record-high cost of
insuring the country’s debt against default sparked fears of a
flare-up in Europe’s debt crisis on Friday.
Big exporters to Europe came under pressure. TDK Corp
fell 2.8 percent, Konica Minolta Holdings Inc
was down 2.3 percent and Nikon Corp slipped 1.5 percent
after the euro fell to an eight-week low against the yen, last
trading at 105.35 yen on euro zone concerns in the
early Asian trade.
Bucking the trend, Sharp Corp climbed 3.1 percent
after it said it had begun producing the world’s first high
performance liquid crystal display panels, which traders said
could give it an edge over its South Korean and Taiwanese
competitors in the mobile devices market.
Eiji Kinouchi, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities said
the Wall Street earnings season could provide a catalyst for a
rebound in Japan’s equities this week.
“Rather than high-performing technology shares, we should
look at major U.S. defensives that have underperformed the
market. If these companies, mostly retail and pharmaceuticals,
post better-than-expected earnings this week I think you could
see a larger market rebound in the U.S. and Japan,” said
Kinouchi.
U.S. technology bellwether Intel Corp is due to
post its results on Tuesday, followed by other marquee names
such as American Express Co, General Electric Co,
and McDonald’s Corp.
Japan’s megabanks and brokers were heavily sold off,
tracking the performance of their U.S. counterparts, with
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui
Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group
down between 2 and 2.4 percent.
Nomura Holdings was down 2 percent and Daiwa
Securities Group dropped 1.9 percent.
Among the top performers on the Topix core 30 list
was Kansai Electric Power Co, up 0.8 percent, after
Japan’s government declared its two idled nuclear reactors safe
to restart.
All but one of Japan’s 54 nuclear reactors are now off line,
most of them for regular maintenance checks, as public concerns
over nuclear safety in the wake of Fukushima’s atomic disaster
have kept them from restarting.
U.S. stocks closed out their worst week this year on Friday,
with financials, materials and energy shares down after
disappointing Chinese growth data and concerns that Europe’s
debt crisis was flaring up again.
The cost of insuring Spanish debt against default for five
years closed above 500 basis points for the first time,
according to provider Markit on Friday, amid fears about the
high exposure of the country’s banking sector to sovereign debt.
Data on Friday also showed Spanish banks had borrowed a
record 316.3 billion euros from the European Central Bank in
March, and markets fear much of the funds have been placed in
domestic sovereign debt.
