Tokyo stocks closed lower Thursday on revived trade war fears with fresh comments from the US administration sending mixed messages on a US-China commercial confrontation. The Nikkei 225 index lost 0.01 percent, or 1.38 points, to end at 22,270.39 while the broader Topix index was down 0.26 percent, or 4.45 points, at 1,727.00.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he supported tougher restrictions on foreign investment in sensitive technology, as well as export controls on those goods, but he stopped short of imposing specific restrictions on China. The White House may have been prompted to step back from tough restrictions on China after stock markets dropped sharply and experts warned that strong action against Beijing could open US firms up to severe retaliation.
Still, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin dismissed the idea the administration was going soft on China. And analysts pointed to comments from White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow warning that tougher action on China was still being contemplated.
Japanese shares were influenced by a trend in the global market with little market-moving activity at home, analysts said. "Sales are promped by deterioration in the external environment," Okasan Online Securities' strategist Yoshihiro Ito said in a commentary. The dollar fetched 110.30 yen, against 110.27 yen in New York late Wednesday. In Tokyo, steelmakers closed lower with Nippon Steel slipping 0.41 percent to 2,164 yen and JFE losing 0.80 percent to 2,083 yen.
Sharp dropped 3.77 percent to 2,344 yen. Oil distributor Showa Shell Sekiyu dropped 3.76 percent to 1,663 yen after surging Wednesday on reports it will merge with Idemitsu, whose shares gained 1.50 percent to 4,040 yen.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.