Japanese shares posted their sixth straight weekly loss Friday, with investors awaiting US officials' views on the fragile US economy as its quantitative easing programme ends, analysts said.
The Federal Reserve, which has promised to end the current second-round of quantitative easing this month, will hold a two-day policy meeting amid concerns over the impact withdrawing will have on the US economy.
'The main thing (in this week) will be the (Federal Open Market Committee) FOMC meeting. How do they assess the soft tone of the US economy?' asked Seiichi Suzuki, strategist at Tokai Tokyo Securities.
'The market's focus will not be whether they will take new actions now. Rather, investors will watch for any change in the tone of their speech,' he said.
He added that markets will scrutinise any comments from the Fed in terms of whether they signal an official stance to continue monitoring the situation or offer hints that fresh stimulus programmes may later be considered.
US shares have been easing since last month, pulling down Japanese stocks.
The Nikkei has seen weekly falls since marking a moderate increase in the week to May 6, when the index closed at 9,859.20.
Source : New Age
