TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei share average slumped to its longest losing streak of the year on Tuesday, with many of the nation’s biggest technology names tracking overnight declines in US peers.
Though selling continued to dominate as investors booked profits following the Nikkei’s surge to a 33-year peak last week, losses in the latest session were capped by gains for Chinese equities amid growing expectations of imminent stimulus from Beijing.
The Nikkei ended the day down 0.49% at 32,538.33, paring declines steadily over most of the afternoon session.
Earlier, it had slumped as much as 1.2%.
The broader Topix slipped 0.28% to 2,253.81.
The Nikkei has lost a combined 3.1% during the current, four-day losing streak, its longest since mid-December. It reached a post-bubble-era high of 33,772.89 on June 19.
“The rise has been very rapid and this is simply a correction from that,” said Masayuki Kichikawa, chief macro strategist at Mitsui Sumitomo DS Asset Management, who projects the Nikkei could finish the year between 34,000 and 35,000.
“A lot of people - mainly short-term, trend-following investors - have started to think that these are good levels to take profit,” he added.
“But there are many long-term investors looking on and considering whether to increase allocations.”
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Online company CyberAgent led Nikkei decliners with a 4.08% drop, while chip-testing equipment maker Advantest - whose share fortunes have been closely tied to customer Nvidia amid the AI euphoria - slumped 2.49%.
Startup investor SoftBank Group fell 1.57%, Sony Group slid 1.23% and online staffing agency Recruit Holdings dropped 1.43%.
By contrast, shippers were big gainers once again, with Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha leading advancers with a 11.49% surge. Peers Nippon Yusen and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines rose 3.7% and 3.08% respectively.
Tokyo Disney Resort-operator Oriental Land was no. 2, gaining 3.78% after announcing an increase in ticket prices from October.
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