TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened lower Monday after US shares fell last week and with investors locking in profits.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 0.51 percent, or 142.41 points, to 27,619.16 in early trade, while the broader Topix index gave up 0.37 percent, or 7.22 points, to 1,925.92.
The Tokyo market came under pressure as global investors interpreted solid US economic data as a further sign the Federal Reserve will keep raising interest rates in its fight against inflation, driving down Wall Street shares.
Further gains of US yields also discouraged investors.
“Markets took the strong US payroll gains on Friday as affirming the near-term path for continued Fed tightening,” Taylor Nugent of National Australia Bank wrote in a note.
“Good news was bad news, then, for risk assets with US equities lower,” the note said.
Tokyo stocks open higher tracking US gains
The Nikkei index was also under pressure due to investors looking to lock in profits after recent gains.
After selling in the early part of this week, the Tokyo market is likely to regain calm, Okasan Online Securities said in a note.
“There seems to be an appetite for dip buying, which should provide support for the market,” the brokerage said, expressing optimism that the Nikkei may head toward 28,000.
Among major shares, Sony Group dropped 1.80 percent to 11,980 yen. SoftBank Group fell 1.27 percent to 5,349 yen. Toyota fell 1.15 percent to 2,140.0 yen.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group slipped 0.43 percent to 736.5 yen.
But Uniqlo-operator Fast Retailing added 0.66 percent to 67,290 yen. Nintendo was up 0.19 percent to 57,500 yen.
Leading shipping firm Nippon Yusen gained 0.65 percent to 10,910 yen.
Energy firm ENEOS Holdings added 3.25 percent to 553.4 yen, and Canon rose 0.82 percent to 3,323 yen.
Comments
Comments are closed.