Tokyo: Stocks close flat ahead of central bankers meeting

[TOKYO] Tokyo stocks closed flat on Thursday with investors on the sidelines ahead of this week's key Jackson Hole symposium of central bankers.

The Nikkei 225 index edged up 0.06 per cent, or 17.49 points, to 27,742.29, but the broader Topix index inched down 0.02 per cent, or 0.31 points, to 1,935.35.

Tokyo shares opened higher after US stocks renewed record highs on hopes that the coronavirus pandemic might have peaked in the country, at least for now.

But they trimmed early gains "as investors locked in profits, avoiding long positions ahead of Jackson Hole", Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities, told AFP.

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell is due to make a speech on Friday in which he could signal changes to the US central bank's easy-money policies, which have fuelled the big equity gains over the past year and a half.

Many economists caution however that the meeting may produce no major headlines with Mr Powell seen as unlikely to provide details just yet about plans to ease up on the Fed's massive bond purchases.

AFP