Tokyo: Stocks close lower, giving up early gains

[TOKYO] Tokyo stocks erased early gains and closed lower on Thursday as investors locked in profits following a recent surge.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.62 per cent or 188.37 points to 30,323.34, while the broader Topix index lost 0.30 per cent or 6.23 points to 2,090.16.

Shares had opened higher as investors took heart from a Wall Street rebound on Wednesday.

"But profit-taking emerged as players started cashing in" on recent gains, said Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities.

"However, sentiment remained intact with hopes for stimulus under the next government," Mr Horiuchi told AFP.

Campaigning kicks off on Friday for leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party after Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he would not stand for re-election.

An ongoing decline in coronavirus cases in Japan is also helping boost the market, brokers added.

The dollar fetched 109.25 yen in Asian afternoon trade, against 109.36 yen in New York late Wednesday.

In Tokyo, Nintendo dropped 2.57 per cent to 52,500 yen on profit-taking, while Panasonic fell 0.76 per cent to 1,431 yen but Sony gained 0.82 per cent to 12,270 yen.

Toyota rose 0.64 per cent to 9,940 yen after a report said it plans to increase its inventory of semiconductors.

Japan booked a trade deficit of 635.4 billion yen (S$7.8 billion) in August against market expectations of a 2.9 billion yen surplus, according to finance ministry data released before the opening bell.

The figure was the result of rising imports that overwhelmed an increase in exports, but the data did not prompt strong market reaction.

AFP