TOKYO: Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei index fell on Tuesday, snapping a three-day winning streak, as investors locked in profits ahead of a series of political events surrounding North Korea.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 0.18 percent, or 42.03 points, to 22,960.34 while the broader Topix index was down 0.23 percent, or 4.18 points, at 1,809.57.

"Investors cashed in on the recent gains after the Nikkei index topped the 23,000-point line yesterday," said Hikaru Sato, senior technical analyst at Daiwa Securities.

"The market will focus on political events related to North Korea, led by a summit between the US and North Korea," Sato told AFP.

"First, we want to check if Pyongyang lives up to its pledge to destroy its nuclear test site this week," he said.

The yen's moderate rebound against the dollar also helped discourage investors from buying shares, brokers said.

The dollar was trading at 110.91 yen against 111.03 yen in New York Monday afternoon.

Global stock markets got a bounce Monday after the US and China effectively called a truce in what had been a spiralling trade dispute, relieving investors.

In Tokyo, Sony was down 1.96 percent at 5,282 yen after it announced its medium-term business plans and a $1.9-billion deal to acquire EMI Music Publishing.

Nintendo was down 0.42 percent at 44,310 yen, while Toyota was down 0.46 percent at 7,527 yen, with Nissan unchanged at 1,144 yen.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Press), 2018

Comments

Comments are closed.