Japanese stocks went into the lunch....>

JAPAN STOCKS: Japanese stocks went into the lunch break in negative territory,

the Nikkei 225 down 85.1 points at 19,994.54. The index opened slightly lower,

pressured by late losses in US stocks and weak earnings after market and

extended its drop early on before seeing rangebound trade into the break ahead

of earnings. Japanese markets ignored a mixed slew of data pre-market, CPI

remained subdued but household spending and labour market data was strong.

- Stocks also pressured by a bout of yen strength, retracing an earlier decline

against the US dollar after DXY saw a rebound from 14-month lows. USD/JPY is

down around 16 pips on the session at 111.10 having seen a drop from 111.71 on

Thursday. 6/11 sectors on the Nikkei 225 are in the red, led lower by IT stocks.

Earnings are one of the main drivers of the index at the moment, Toshiba and

Konami both reported during the lunch break, with Nissan reporting disappointing

earnings earlier. Yahoo Japan & Nomura will report later. 

- Asia-Pac indices are mixed, the Hang Seng is down 140 points pressured by

earnings, mainland China is seeing small gains while the ASX200 in Australia is

down 75 points.