Japan Equities Mixed as Recession Deepens

Japanese stocks swung between gains and losses as investors weighed a report showing the nation’s recession was worse than estimated and U.S. jobs data that spurred the yen’s steepest daily decline in a month.

Exporters gained while energy shares fell. Mazda Motor Corp., a carmaker that gets 76 percent of sales overseas, added 1 percent. Energy explorer Inpex Corp. sank 1.1 percent as oil dropped for a third straight day. GungHo Online Entertainment Inc. jumped 5 percent, extending a rally since last week to 23 percent on a report the smartphone game maker will announce an expansion into China.

The Topix index was little changed at 1,446.13 as of 10:38 a.m. in Tokyo, having swung between gains of 0.6 percent and losses of 0.2 percent. The measure closed last week at its highest level since December 2007. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average was little changed at 17,916.65. today. The yen traded at 121.49 per dollar after weakening 1.4 percent on Dec. 5. U.S. stocks closed at records last week while European shares recovered from the biggest drop in seven weeks.

Bloomberg

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