European stocks down as ECB leaves interest rates on hold

TOKYO, July 21 Japan’s Nikkei share average rose to a six-week high on Thursday buoyed by gains on Wall Street and a weaker yen, and fresh expectations of large stimulus measures from the government lifted risk appetite.

At the lunch break, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1.05 percent, or 175.49 points, to 16,857.38, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares had gained 0.78 percent, or 10.34 points, to 1,341.09.

European stocks fell in early trading, with France’s CAC 40 sliding 0.9 percent to 2,153.60 and Germany’s DAX shedding 1.1 percent to 9,949.54.

Bleak business sentiment should add to calls for policymakers to do more to revive a flagging economy, with the government eyeing a stimulus package of 10 trillion yen ($F193tn) or more and the Bank of Japan under pressure to ease policy further. The Nasdaq composite rose 53.56, or 1.1 percent, to 5,089.93.

“The market rallied impressively last week for a number of different reasons”, said Stefan Worrall, director of Japan equity sales at Credit Suisse, and it was “understandable that it would wind back”. The technology giant said it returned to a profit in its fiscal fourth quarter after reporting a loss a year earlier. In its latest assessment, the International Monetary Fund shaved its estimate for worldwide growth to 3.1 percent this year and 3.4 percent in 2017. If the yen extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 124.00 against the euro, 113.00 against the franc and 111.00 against the greenback.

A businessman is reflected in an electronic board displaying Japan’s Nikkei share average outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, April 18, 2016.

AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed to this report.

The ringgit’s depreciation comes on the heels of the U.S. Department of Justice and authorities in Singapore seizing assets related to alleged money laundering by parties involved with 1MDB, Malaysia’s state investment firm.

Among the region’s other currencies, the Malaysian ringgit fell against the dollar for a second straight day, and was recently down 0.6%, while other currencies held steady.

India’s S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.5 percent after changing direction at least seven times.

The “comments will disappoint investors who had been selling the yen in anticipation of the Bank of Japan announcing helicopter money at its meeting next week”, Jasper Lawler, a London-based analyst at CMC Markets, told Bloomberg News.

In commodities, Brent crude, the global oil price benchmark, was down 0.5% at $46.76 a barrel Tuesday amid worries about the continued oversupply in the oil market. The dollar rose to 106.83 Japanese yen from 106.09 yen.

“The dollar could rise further if it tops a pre-Brexit peak slightly above ¥106.80”, an official at a major Japanese bank said, referring to Britain’s vote to leave the European Union in the June 23 referendum.

US crude CLc1 was down 0.2 percent at $44.67 a barrel, poised for a 2.7 percent fall this week in which they touched a two-month low.