Tokyo stocks close lower on profit-taking

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks fell Tuesday on late profit-taking, with investors keeping to the sidelines as major global markets remained closed for the Christmas holidays.

"As trading has gotten thinner with a lack of fresh trading factors, investors appear (to be) cashing in on their recent gains," said Hikaru Sato, senior technical analyst at Daiwa Securities.

"Sluggish trading is expected to continue for now as the market is in holiday mode," Sato told AFP.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.20 percent, or 46.49 points, to close at 22,892.69 while the broader Topix index was down 0.27 percent, or 4.92 points, at 1,827.01.

"It is difficult to see a clear direction in the market as foreign investors are absent from trade with a transaction volume low," Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary.

Investors are awaiting Thursday's minutes of the Bank of Japan's policy meeting last week for clues to the central bank's future course of policy decisions, it said.

The dollar changed hands at 113.29 yen, almost unchanged from 113.25 yen in Tokyo late Monday.

Some blue-chip shares were lower, with Nintendo losing 1.60 percent at 41,680 yen and Canon trading down 0.47 percent at 4,398 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial was down 0.45 percent at 836 yen while its rival Sumitomo Mitsui Financial slipped 0.67 percent to 4,884 yen.