Tokyo: Nikkei closes down for third straight session

[TOKYO] Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei index closed down for a third consecutive session on Monday as concerns over rising coronavirus cases in Japan continued to weigh on the market.

The Nikkei 225 index dropped 1.62 per cent, or 453.96 points, to 27,523.19, while the broader Topix index fell 1.61 per cent, or 31.41 points, to 1,924.98.

"Concern remains strong over the economic impact of record coronavirus cases in Japan," said Yoshihiro Okumura of Chibagin Asset Management.

Japan has seen nationwide daily cases top 20,000 in recent days, driven by the highly infectious Delta variant.

The Cabinet office released data on Monday showing the world's third-largest economy grew 0.3 per cent in the three months to June, slightly more than expected despite the virus surge and new restrictions.

But "market sentiment remains weak", Mr Okumura told AFP.

"Tokyo stocks are expected to trade in a tight range for the rest of the week as players look for fresh trading factors," he added.

The US dollar fetched 109.41 yen in Asian afternoon trade, against 109.57 in New York Friday afternoon.

In Tokyo, SoftBank Group dropped 2.13 per cent to 6,505 yen with Nissan down 3.79 per cent at 593.5 yen.

But FujiFilm Holdings jumped 6.78 per cent to 8,517 yen after the digital imaging and medical equipment maker upgraded its full-year forecast.

AFP