Tokyo Stock Market

TOKYO: share prices received a strong boost on June 4 as bargain hunters jumped into the market to take advantage of the previous day's sharp fall, and helped the Nikkei 225 post a gain for the reporting week. However, buying sentiment quickly waned in subsequent trading sessions as upside pressure appeared when the Nikkei 225 closed in on the 22,000 yen level. The market turned down on June 6 due to a lack of buying incentives, dwindling market volume, and nervousness ahead of the Bank of Japan's quarterly survey of business confidence, released June 7. While weak, the report continued to show improving business confidence. Investors chose instead to focus on the upcoming release of US economic data.

In the pharmaceutical sector, share prices came under continued selling pressure and the sector index ended the week down 0.7% at 2,763.65 yen as losers outpaced gainers. This marks the third straight weekly decline. While investors have already factored in Ministry of Health and Welfare cuts in drug prices, many are taking a wait-and-see attitude ahead of research institutes' release of revised fiscal 1996 and 1997 earnings forecasts, which should be available around the end of the month or in July. The two biggest gainers were Mochida and Sankyo, with the latter getting a boost from forecasts of strong sales of lipid-lowerer Mevalotin (pravastatin), particularly in overseas markets where sales are expected to grow 19%, and antiallergy drugs. Takeda, which was up modestly, has received a buy report from several brokers for its growing sales of Takepron (lansoprazole).