Tokyo investors eye ECB meeting after Swiss action

TOKYO, Jan 16 (AFP): Tokyo investors will be keeping an eye on next week's policy meeting of the European Central Bank after Switzerland's decision to remove its currency cap with the euro, while expectations are high for a new round of stimulus.
"The upcoming ECB meeting on Thursday will be the biggest event next week," said Kenzaburo Suwa, strategist at Okasan Securities in Tokyo.
There is widespread speculation that the ECB will announce a large asset-buying programme, or quantitative easing, to counter deflation and weak growth in the eurozone.
"Trading has been volatile recently because of the speculation," Suwa said. "The market is expected to regain its calm once the ECB makes an announcement."
On Friday, the Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which was off nearly 3.0 per cent at one stage, lost 244.54 points to end at 16,864.16.
The benchmark index lost 1.94 per cent over the week.
The Topix index of all first-section shares was down 0.93 per cent, or 12.87 points, at 1,363.73. It fell 1.22 per cent in the holiday-shortened trading week.
The Japanese market -- which added 1.86 per cent Thursday -- plunged at the open as a sharply stronger yen dented exporter shares while firms with ties to Switzerland also fell.
On Thursday, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) said it no longer needed the limit of 1.20 francs to the euro, which it put in place three years ago during the European debt crisis.
Minutes after the announcement, the franc surged 30 per cent to 0.8517against the single currency before ending the day at 1.0035. In Asian trade, it rose again, sitting at 0.9945.
The news rattled global markets as investors rushed into safer investments, such as the yen.