Tokyo stocks close lower

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks closed lower on Wednesday as falls on Wall Street weighed on the market.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.3 percent, or 101.45 points, to 38,262.16, while the broader Topix index ended down 0.2 percent, or 5.00 points, to 2,627.30.

The dollar stood at 150.00 yen, unchanged from in New York overnight.

The Tokyo market started trading lower after taking cues from falls on Wall Street, where investors sold shares of chip giant Nvidia ahead of its highly anticipated earnings results. “The market views Nvidia’s earnings as the artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management, said.

“Given its significance as the third-largest company by market value and its focus on AI, it could be seen as a trend-setting short-term turning point.” In Japan, too, the market was dragged down by semiconductor-linked stocks like Advantest, which slid 1.97 percent to 6,594 yen.

Among other shares in Tokyo, SoftBank Group dropped 1.97 percent to 8,370 yen and Sony Group dipped 0.97 percent to 13,185 yen. Toyota was up 0.43 percent to 3,429 yen and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing added 0.59 percent to 41,950 yen.