27 July 2004, 09:22  Stocks slip as investors brace for earnings

Tokyo stocks slipped on Tuesday on fears about weak outlooks from firms such as Sony as Japan's earnings season gets into full swing, while the dollar struggled to rise, awaiting U.S. data to gauge economic growth. Asian stock markets were mixed, with investor confidence weak after U.S. technology stocks fell to 10-month lows and the S&P 500 <.SPX> recorded its lowest close in seven months on fears of a slowdown in corporate profit growth. Oil slipped a touch to stand just under $42 a barrel, while gold was little changed. Investors were wary ahead of earnings from firms such as Seiko Epson Corp. <6724.T> and NEC Electronics Corp. <6723.T> on Tuesday. Sharp Corp. <6753.T>, Sony Corp. <6758.T>, Advantest Corp. <6857.T> and Canon Inc. <7751.T> of Japan report on Wednesday, as does Taiwan's United Microelectronics Corp. <2303.TW> Japan's Nikkei stock average <.N225> slipped 0.4 percent by midday to 11,115.20, after setting a seven-week closing low on Monday. South Korean shares <.KS11> slid 1 percent, while Taiwan <.TWII> fell 0.6 percent to a near one-year low.
"People are taking a wait-and-see attitude because they don't think tech companies will be doing well in the third quarter," said Chiang Chen-sheng, a manager at MasterLink Investment Advisory. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan <.MSCIAPJ> was trading around its lowest levels in a month, slipping 0.2 percent by 0220 GMT. Its tech component <.MSCIAPJIT> dropped about 1 percent to its lowest level in more than a year. Shares fell 0.3 percent in Hong Kong <.HSI> and edged up about 0.3 percent in Australia <.AXJO> and Singapore <.STI>.
DOLLAR AWAITS DATA
The dollar was stuck in tight ranges as some traders took summer holidays and the market kept a wary eye on Japanese corporate activity. The dollar fetched around 109.85 yen versus 109.95 yen in late New York trade. The euro was at $1.2143 versus $1.2141, and off $1.2087 hit on Friday -- its lowest level since June 30. Investors will be looking to U.S. July consumer confidence data on Tuesday, June durable goods orders on Wednesday and second-quarter gross domestic product growth figures on Friday to gauge the strength of economic growth. High-tech firms have been hurt by disappointing earnings from their U.S. peers, a series of chip downgrades and bearish analyst reports on the global chip and liquid crystal display industries. Consumer electronics giant Sony extended falls into a fourth session, losing 0.5 percent, while Advantest, the world's top maker of memory chip testers, dropped 1.9 percent, paring the previous day's rise. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. <005930.KS>, the world's biggest maker of memory chips, shed 1.4 percent in South Korea. The falls came after the tech-heavy Nasdaq <.IXIC> dropped 0.5 percent to its lowest close in nearly 10 months. The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> closed flat. Broadly upbeat earnings news in the last few weeks had failed to dispel fears that, in the quarters ahead, companies would have a tough time matching last year's performance, analysts said. The yield on the two-year Japanese government bond edged up to a three-week high, as market players speculated on when the Bank of Japan would exit its ultra-loose monetary policy. Oil sipped six cents to $41.38 a barrel, while gold was at $390.80 an ounce, versus $390.25 in New York.///

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