Japanese stocks ease to 1-1/2-week lows; Line, Z Holdings soar on merger talks

By Tomo Uetake
TOKYO, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Japanese shares hit 1-1/2-week
lows on Thursday after profit-taking set in as doubts over an
interim U.S.-China trade deal grew, while Line Corp and Z
Holdings jumped on news the Yahoo Japan operator was in merger
talks with messaging app firm Line.
The Nikkei share average .N225 retreated 0.8% to
23,141.55, its lowest since Nov. 5, and the broader Topix
.TOPX dropped 0.9% to 1,684.40, also a 1-1/2-week low.
Dashing upbeat expectations about a phase one deal was a
Wall Street Journal report that said Sino-U.S. negotiations had
"hit a snag" over farm purchases, with Beijing not wanting a
deal that looks one-sided in favour of the United States.
Worries about violent anti-government protests in Hong Kong
also soured investor sentiment.
"The Nikkei had been making considerable gains over the past
weeks. Level wise, it's no wonder investors moved to lock in
some profits today," said Yasuo Sakuma, chief investment officer
at equity investment firm Libra Investments.
In the cautious climate, the safe-haven yen firmed as high
as 108.66 overnight and was last quoted at 108.72 JPY= against
the dollar, weighing on Japanese exporters as a strong domestic
currency hurts corporate profits when they are repatriated.
Export-oriented Nissan Motor 7201.T shed 3.5%, Honda Motor
7267.T fell 2.2%, and Toyota Motor 7203.T dropped 1.2%.
Z Holdings 4689.T , which last month changed its name from
Yahoo Japan, soared 16.9% after the internet firm said merger
discussions were underway with Line Corp 3938.T .
Shares in Line surged 15.4%, or its daily limit of 705 yen,
while SoftBank Corp 9434.T , which owns almost half of Z
Holdings, climbed 1.9%.
The merger talks between Z Holdings and Line also put
pressure on their competitors, with Rakuten Inc 4755.T diving
5.8%.
Z Holdings was the most traded stock on the main board,
while SoftBank Corp was the third-most traded issue.
The information and telecom sector .ICOMS.T rose 0.3% to
become the best performer among Tokyo's 33 subsector indexes.
Elsewhere, Recruit Holdings 6098.T advanced 2.0% after the
HR services provider reported its April-September net profit
rose by 23.2% to 114.2 billion yen. (Editing by Jacqueline Wong)