TOKYO: Japanese shares edged lower in seesaw trading on Tuesday, as investors turned cautious about corporate outlook, although the losses were limited by overnight gains on Wall Street.
The Nikkei share average eased 0.10% to 27,708.30 by the midday break, after opening higher.
The broader Topix fell 0.35% to 1,946.80, also in a range-bound trading session so far. “The only reason that lifted the market was Wall Street’s gains,” said Shuji Hosoi, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities.
“With the fiscal year just ending, we are expecting corporate guidance to come out and those are not expected to be positive with the impact of the COVID-19 and rising commodity prices due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.” Insurers and banks led losses among the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s 33 industry subindexes, losing 3.54% and 1.53%, respectively.
Dai-ichi Life fell 4.57% and T&D Holdings lost 4.28%.
Japan’s Nikkei falls as chip shares track US peers lower
Banking giant Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group dragged the Topix the most, falling 1.93%, followed by insurer Tokio Marine Holdings, which lost 3.31%.
Oil explorers rose 1.3%, leading gains among the sector groups as oil prices rose.
Retailers were also strong, with Shimamura surging 8.8% after the casual clothing shop operator raised prices and flagged a record annual profit.
Shimamura’s bigger rival Fast Retailing rose 1.5%, providing the biggest support for the Nikkei, followed by technology investor SoftBank Group, rising 3.8% and chip making equipment maker Tokyo Electron climbing 0.28%.
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