Tokyo stocks rally fizzles by break on profit-taking

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks slipped Tuesday morning as investors booked profits a day after pro-European centrist Emmanuel Macron's victory in the French presidential election pushed the Japanese market to a 17-month high.

The decline after three days of gains came on the back of a slide in European stock markets with investors looking beyond Macron's win to focus on whether he will be able to push through economic reforms.

"Profit-taking is leading the market after a sharp rally over a short period of time," Okasan Online Securities chief strategist Yoshihiro Ito said in a commentary.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index edged down 0.08 percent, or 15.72 points, to 19,879.98 by the break, after closing Monday at its highest level since December 2015.

The Topix index of all first-section issues slipped 0.12 percent, or 1.92 points, to 1,583.94.

Toshiba's volatile shares jumped 4.52 percent to 251.7 yen after news reports said the troubled industrial conglomerate, which is grappling with massive losses, may release unaudited annual results to avoid being delisted from the Tokyo bourse.

Sony added 1.35 percent to 4,043 yen, crossing the 4,000 level for the first time since 2008.

The company has been in the midst of a years-long restructuring to move past losses largely tied to a struggling television business.

Canon rose 0.94 percent to 3,830 yen but Toyota fell 0.96 percent to 6,175 yen and Nissan slipped 0.50 percent to 1,079.5 yen.

The dollar was changing hands at 113.21 yen, easing from 113.26 yen in New York but still up from 112.72 yen in Asia earlier Monday.