Tokyo stocks open lower on US losses, travel campaign halt

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened lower on Tuesday following losses on Wall Street and the suspension of a domestic tourism campaign over record numbers of virus infections.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 0.18 percent or 49.33 points to 26,683.11 at the open, while the broader Topix index slid 0.15 percent or 2.70 points to 1,787.82.

On Monday, Wall Street closed mostly lower amid renewed concern that soaring Covid-19 infections will lead to more lockdowns in the fragile US economy.

After hitting a 52-week high during the trading session, the Dow ended with a loss of 0.6 percent. The broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent but the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.5 percent.

In Japan, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga urged citizens to reconsider their holiday travel plans, announcing a temporary halt of the controversial "Go To" travel campaign.

The call came as Japan sees rising infections of around 3,000 new cases per day, with doctors and nurses warning they are overwhelmed.

"Caution over the spread of infections both domestically and abroad is likely to weigh down the market," Mizuho Securities said in a note.

"But losses are expected to be limited as investors will be in a wait-and-see mode ahead of the FOMC (US Fed) meeting," it said.

In Tokyo trading, airline companies were lower with Japan Airlines falling 2.88 percent to 1,955 yen and ANA Holdings dropping 6.66 percent to 2,305 yen.

Toyota was down 0.15 percent to 7,940 yen while Honda lost 0.65 percent to 3,018 yen.

Uniqlo casual wear operator Fast Retailing gained 0.37 percent to 84,620 yen. Sony rose 0.45 percen to 9,828 yen.

The dollar fetched 103.99 yen in early Asian trade, against 104.00 yen in New York late Monday.