TOKYO: Tokyo stocks ended lower on Wednesday, erasing earlier gains, with the market retreating from previous rallies over the US midterm elections.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.56 percent, or 155.68 points, to end at 27,716.43, while the broader Topix index lost 0.41 percent, or 8.07 points, to 1,949.49.
The dollar stood at 145.83 yen, against 145.58 yen in New York late Tuesday.
The Tokyo market started trade higher, extending Wall Street gains, with investors encouraged to buy on hopes for a US midterm scenario that could lesson the risk of policy uncertainty.
Polls suggested Republicans would likely win at least one house of the legislature – and some see the prospect of split control in Washington as pointing to a more austere fiscal policy that could help curb inflation.
“That’s why stocks tended to rise until yesterday,” Seiichi Suzuki, chief equity market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute, told AFP.
By the Tokyo close, reports suggested a possible Republican “red wave” had fizzled, though several leading GOP figures secured wins.
Japanese shares rise on Wall Street gains, robust outlook
Among major shares in Tokyo, Honda was down 0.69 percent to 3,427 yen.
The automaker on Wednesday reported its April-September net profit sank to 338 billion yen, marking a 13-percent drop from a year earlier.
It also revised its full-year net profit forecast to 725 billion yen, slightly up from the previous 710 billion yen.
SoftBank Group increased 1.29 percent to 7,019 yen, Sony Group was down 0.08 percent to 11,190 yen and Toyota slid 0.72 percent to 1,988.5 yen.
Comments
Comments are closed.