Tokyo stocks fell 0.30 percent Friday as caution prevailed ahead of a key speech by US Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen. The Nikkei 225 index lost 47.01 points to 15,539.19 after nine consecutive days of gains. The Topix index of all first-section issues was down 0.40 percent, or 5.12 points, at 1,286.07. The Tokyo market opened higher after the S&P index logged another record close on Wall Street.
"There is still some buying in undervalued and so-called laggard sectors such as banks and brokerages," said an equity trading director at a European brokerage. "But overall a lack of trading incentives, combined with reticence before Yellen's speech is enough to keep people out of the market," the trader told Dow Jones Newswires.
In late trading, profit-taking emerged after the Nikkei's winning streak, erasing early gains before the closing bell. Yellen is to deliver a keynote speech later Friday at the Fed's annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, as investors speculate on the direction of US interest rates. The dollar was changing hands at 103.68 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade, compared with 103.85 yen in New York Thursday afternoon.
The latest rally on Wall Street came as investors shrugged off geopolitical problems, cheered by fresh signs of strength in the US economy. The broad-based S&P added 0.29 percent to hit a record 1,992.37, while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.36 percent to 17,039.49. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite rose 0.12 percent to 4,532.10, its highest level in 14 years. In Tokyo trade, export-related shares ended mixed. Toyota lost 0.78 percent to 5,943.0 yen but Nissan rose 0.24 percent to 1,015.0 yen. Sony rose 0.12 percent to 1,954.5 yen, while Sharp dropped 1.22 percent to 322.0 yen.
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