Tokyo investors eye data, growing unrest in Iraq next week

TOKYO, June 20 (AFP): Tokyo investors will keep an eye on fresh Japanese data next week, including inflation and household spending, as well as the ongoing violence in Iraq, analysts said Friday.
"It's going to be a relatively eventless week, but players will look to consumer inflation data," said Hikaru Sato, senior technical analyst at Daiwa Securities.
"The market will also watch geopolitical factors, led by the Iraqi situation," Sato added.
Investors are keen to see Japan's latest price data after Tokyo hiked sales taxes in April, setting off concerns that it could dent the nation's budding recovery.
Also on deck for Friday was the country's latest employment data and household spending figures.
US President Barack Obama has offered up to 300 US advisers to train Iraqi forces, after they regained control of the nation's largest oil refinery, but rebels remain in control of swathes of the country.
On Friday, Japanese shares finished flat, giving up early gains after hitting a five-month high the previous day and following a new record close on Wall Street.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index on Friday ended flat, slipping 0.08 per cent, or 11.74 points, to 15,349.42.
The index rose 1.67 per cent over the week.
The Topix index of all first-section shares edged down 0.01 per cent, or 0.12 points, to 1,268.92. It rose 2.01 per cent over the week.
"It's natural that, after five weeks of rallies, share prices are going to slip a bit," said Seiichi Suzuki, market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Securities.
The Nikkei has gained about nine per cent over the past month.
May's volume was largely driven by hedge fund buying, while this month has been dominated by a "steadier diet of domestic pension funds buying into the market", said Norihiro Fujito, senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
That prompted overseas investors to pile back into the Japanese market, he added.
Foreigners held a record 30.8 per cent of Tokyo shares at the end of March, according to the stock exchange.
Japan's government is readying to unfetter its $1.26 trillion public pension fund, freeing managers to dump low-yield sovereign bonds and go in search of higher, but riskier, returns in a move that could see cash flood markets.
In Tokyo share trading on Friday, market heavyweight SoftBank turned down 0.08 per cent to finish at 7,783 yen, Uniqlo clothing chain operator Fast Retailing slipped 0.18 per cent to 34,415 yen, while Takeda Pharmaceutical fell 0.71 per cent to 4,841 yen.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries lost 1.09 per cent to close at 630 yen, as the Japanese firm and German partner Siemens upped their offer for France's power-to-rail group Alstom on Friday.
The pair are battling with General Electric to win the government's backing to buy the French conglomerate.
In currency markets, the dollar fetched 101.97 yen, slightly up from 101.94 yen in New York on Thursday.