Roundup: Tokyo stocks edge down on profit-taking after recent gains

The Nikkei stock index edged down 0. 01 percent Monday as invested continued to opt for gains based on the market's rise in terms of monthly and weekly averages and on continued support from hopes for solid corporate earnings and outlooks as well as the market being broadly underpinned by central banks' accommodative monetary easing and buying from institutional investors.

The Nikkei 225 stock average lost 2.17 points from Friday to close the day at 19,905.46, while the broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange dropped 3.28 points, or 0.21 percent, to end the day at 1,586.26.

Brokers said that following the market's rise to fresh 15-year highs recently, the market was ripe for profit-taking, but some analysts had cautioned that despite the comparatively reasonable price for Japanese issues, there were signs of the market overheating.

"With shares lacking support in the form of market-friendly news, there was some profit-taking on signs of short-term overheating," said Hiroichi Nishi, assistant general manager of equity research at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc.

Other analysts said they were on the eye out for external factors that could have a bearing on the market in the near future and alluded to the Q1 earnings in the U.S. this week as perhaps giving the market some direction, albeit negative direction.

"I expect the Nikkei 225 to fluctuate around the 20,000 level this week. We have U.S. first-quarter earnings coming out this week, but if profits look negative there's a possibility Japanese stocks will be dragged down," said Yasuyuki Suda, general manager at Mito Securities Co.

In currency market, the U.S. dollar was changing hands at 120. 36 yen on Monday, compared to 120.30 yen in New York in late trade on Friday.

But some exporters like automakers closed in negative territory, with Toyota revising 0.93 percent to 8,248 yen, while Honda decelerated 2.5 percent to 4,065yen. Nissan Motor, for its part, dropped 1.3 percent to close at 1,263 yen.

Glass maker, Nippon Electric Glass, was a notable gainer on Monday, surging 18 percent, after the firm announced an operating profit of around 4.5 billion yen (37 million U.S. dollars), for the three months through March, well ahead of its own guidance and median analysts estimates.

Nintendo Co. climbed 4.5 percent and Fast Retailing, the operator of Uniqlo chain of clothes stores, also gained ground, adding 0.90 percent to close the first trading day of the week at 50,150 yen.

Trading volume on Monday dropped to 1.70 billion shares on the Tokyo Exchange's First Section, down from Friday's volume of 2.04 billion shares, with declining issues beating advancing ones by 1, 000 to 731. Endi