Tokyo: Stocks close lower with eyes on earnings, trade

[TOKYO] Tokyo stocks closed lower on Monday as investors remained cautious amid corporate earnings season and ahead of US-China trade talks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.19 per cent or 41.35 points to 21,616.80 while the broader Topix index ended down 0.19 per cent or 2.95 points at 1,568.57.

"A wait-and-see attitude may spread ahead of the Bank of Japan's policy board meeting and the US FOMC meeting, as well as resumption of the US-China trade talks" this week, Mizuho Securities said in a commentary.

Investors are also closely watching earnings reports, it added.

Falls in Chinese shares also weighed on the Japanese market, Okasan Online Securities said in a note.

The dollar fetched 108.60 yen in Asian trade, against 108.66 yen in New York late on Friday.

In Tokyo, bluechip exporters were broadly lower, with Honda dropping 0.78 per cent to 2,763.5 yen and chipmaking equipment producer Tokyo Electron closing down 0.79 per cent at 18,150 yen.

Hitachi was off 2.59 per cent at 3,830 yen, industrial robot maker Fanuc was down 1.63 per cent at 19,265 yen and construction machine maker Komatsu ended down 0.29 per cent at 2,440.5 yen ahead of their earnings reports after the close of the market Monday.

AFP