Tokyo: Stocks close lower on US tech rout

TOKYO stocks closed lower on Wednesday (May 25) after US shares mostly retreated following a profit warning from the owner of Snapchat that shocked the tech sector.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index ended down 0.26 per cent or 70.34 points at 26,677.80, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.09 per cent or 1.68 points to 1,876.58.

The tech sector was again in the firing line after Snap, the parent of messaging app Snapchat, provided a gloomy economic outlook, sending its shares diving more than 40 per cent.

Overnight in New York, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.4 per cent, with the broad-based S&P ending down 0.8 per cent while the Dow closing up 0.2 per cent.

“Tech shares in Tokyo were particularly hit by falls in the US Nasdaq index, while bargain-hunting purchases provided some support to the market,” Okasan Online Securities said.

Mizuho Securities said investors in Japanese shares also took “a wait-and-see attitude” ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s minutes due later in the day.

The dollar fetched 126.94 yen in Asian trade, against 126.86 yen in New York on Tuesday.

ANA Holdings ended down 0.56 per cent at 2,502 yen, despite comments by its chief executive that revenue would likely be boosted by a recovery of inbound tourism after the expected lifting of Japan’s strict Covid-19 border rules.

Its rival Japan Airlines ended up 0.22 per cent at 2,274 yen.

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Sony Group dropped 1.45 per cent to 11,205 yen, Panasonic fell 0.91 per cent to 1,143.5 yen and SoftBank Group closed down 1.71 per cent at 5,102 yen. AFP