TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei share average erased early gains to close down on Tuesday, dragged lower by losses in chip-related shares and a jump in oil prices.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.1 percent to close at 53,700.39, extending its decline to a fourth-straight day. The broader Topix climbed 0.45 percent to 3,627.07.
The Nikkei jumped as much as 1.2 percent earlier in the session as a slide in oil prices overnight prompted a recovery in investor sentiment that has been battered by the ongoing Iran war.
But crude prices shot back up in Asian trading, and technology shares remained weak following a presentation by artificial intelligence bellwether Nvidia. “Investors sold chip-related stocks because there was no big positive surprise from the remarks from Nvidia overnight,” said Kazuaki Shimada, chief strategist at IwaiCosmo Securities.
“The Nikkei moves inversely to oil prices these days.” Nvidia ended 1.6 percent higher after CEO Jensen Huang announced new components at the chipmaker’s annual developer conference.
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