TOKYO: Tokyo stocks erased early gains and closed lower on Thursday as investors locked in profits following a recent surge.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.62 percent, or 188.37 points, to 30,323.34, while the broader Topix index lost 0.30 percent, or 6.23 points, to 2,090.16.
Shares had opened higher as investors took heart from a Wall Street rebound on Wednesday.
"But profit-taking emerged as players started cashing in" on recent gains, said Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities.
"However, sentiment remained intact with hopes for stimulus under the next government," Horiuchi told AFP.
Campaigning kicks off on Friday for leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party after Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he would not stand for re-election.
An ongoing decline in coronavirus cases in Japan is also helping boost the market, brokers added.
Tokyo stocks close lower on profit-taking
The dollar fetched 109.25 yen in Asian afternoon trade, against 109.36 yen in New York late Wednesday.
In Tokyo, Nintendo dropped 2.57 percent to 52,500 yen on profit-taking, while Panasonic fell 0.76 percent to 1,431 yen but Sony gained 0.82 percent to 12,270 yen.
Toyota rose 0.64 percent to 9,940 yen after a report said it plans to increase its inventory of semiconductors.
Japan booked a trade deficit of 635.4 billion yen ($5.8 billion) in August against market expectations of a 2.9 billion yen surplus, according to finance ministry data released before the opening bell.
The figure was the result of rising imports that overwhelmed an increase in exports, but the data did not prompt strong market reaction.
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