TOKYO: Tokyo stocks closed flat on Thursday with investors on the sidelines ahead of this week's key Jackson Hole symposium of central bankers. The Nikkei 225 index edged up 0.06 percent, or 17.49 points, to 27,742.29, but the broader Topix index inched down 0.02 percent, or 0.31 points, to 1,935.35.
Tokyo shares opened higher after US stocks renewed record highs on hopes that the coronavirus pandemic might have peaked in the country, at least for now. But they trimmed early gains "as investors locked in profits, avoiding long positions ahead of Jackson Hole", Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities, told AFP.
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell is due to make a speech on Friday in which he could signal changes to the US central bank's easy-money policies, which have fuelled the big equity gains over the past year and a half. Many economists caution however that the meeting may produce no major headlines with Powell seen as unlikely to provide details just yet about plans to ease up on the Fed's massive bond purchases.
The dollar stood at 109.94 yen in Asian afternoon trade, compared with 110.00 yen in New York Wednesday. In Tokyo, automakers were mixed. Toyota rose 0.24 percent to 9,507 yen but Nissan lost 0.40 percent to 566 yen.
ANA Holdings jumped 2.17 percent to 2,653.5 yen with Japan Airlines up 2.90 percent at 2,375 yen on an expected recovery of travel demand. Takeda fell 0.89 percent to 3,665 yen after the drugmaker and the government said the country would halt the use of 1.63 million doses of Moderna's Covid vaccine after reports of contamination in several vials. Takeda is in charge of sales and distribution of the Moderna shot in Japan.
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