Tokyo stocks close lower on higher yen

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks closed lower on Thursday after Wall Street fell for the first time in 2018 the previous day, while a strong yen weighed on sentiment.

The bellwether index lost 0.33 percent, or 77.77 points, to end at 23,710.43 while the broader Topix index was down 0.21 percent, or 4.02 points, at 1,888.09.

"Major shares were sold on a stronger yen," Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary.

"But the falls are limited and bargain-hunting purchases remain," he added.

The dollar traded at 111.76 yen in Asian trade Thursday, up from 111.43 yen in New York but still lower from 112.61 yen in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Exporters were facing selling pressure due to the stronger yen, which erodes their profitability.

Toyota dropped 1.00 percent to 7,629 yen and Panasonic fell 0.46 percent to 1,730.5 yen.

Hitachi lost 0.34 percent to 914.3 yen after a news report said that the Japanese and British governments plan to give loans to aid the company's nuclear plant project in Britain.

Fast Retailing, the Uniqlo clothing chain operator, which said after the market close that quarterly profits had grown on brisk global sales, was flat at 46,800.