Tokyo: Shares edge down on strong yen

[TOKYO] Tokyo stocks closed marginally lower Tuesday on a strong yen, with investors digesting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plan to resign and the race to succeed him.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.01 per cent or 1.69 points to 23,138.07, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.15 per cent or 2.37 points to 1,615.81.

"Falls on the US Dow are prompting selling on the Japanese market" with the yen trading at relatively high levels against the US dollar, senior market analyst Toshiyuki Kanayama of Monex said in a commentary.

The US dollar fetched 105.62 yen in Asian afternoon trade, against 105.89 yen in New York late Monday.

But the downside was supported by a sense of relief that a post-Abe era is unlikely to see dramatic policy shifts, particularly with the prime minister's right-hand man Yoshihide Suga in poll position to succeed him.

"If Suga succeeds Abe, economic policies will remain unchanged, which is a positive factor for the market," Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities, told AFP.

Mr Suga, who is chief cabinet secretary, is expected to win support from a majority of fellow LDP lawmakers in the ruling party's leadership election, the mass circulation Yomiuri reported.

Mr Suga is expected to formally announce his candidacy on Wednesday.

Trading was sluggish as investors remained sidelined ahead of this week's release of key US indicators, including August payroll figures, brokers said.

Among major shares in Tokyo, Toyota lost 0.38 per cent to 6,979 yen (S$89.69) with Honda down 1.02 per cent at 2,701 yen.

SoftBank Group dropped 1.19 per cent to 6,519 yen, but Uniqlo-operator Fast Retailing rose 0.15 per cent to 63,380 yen.

Nintendo surged 3.26 per cent to 58,590 yen and Sony gained 0.48 per cent to 8,349 yen.

Japan's jobless rate edged up by 0.1 percentage points to 2.9 per cent in July, slightly better than the market consensus of 3 per cent, official data released by the internal affairs ministry showed before the opening bell.

AFP