Tokyo stocks close lower on profit-taking
- 17 Jun 2020
Tokyo stocks closed lower on Wednesday as investors cashed in after the key Nikkei index soared nearly five percent in the previous session.
The Nikkei 225 lost 0.56 percent, or 126.45 points, to end at 22,455.76, while the broader Topix index fell 0.40 percent, or 6.36 points, to 1,587.09.
"Traders were in wait-and-see mode in the afternoon session with no clear direction," said Okasan Online Securities, adding that profit-taking had dominated the market following sharp rallies in the day before.
Tokyo shares spiked in Tuesday trading on a report the US was preparing a sizable infrastructure proposal, brokers said.
After active buying in the previous session, however, "concerns over a second wave of coronavirus infection are returning", said Okasan's chief strategist Yoshihiro Ito.
Just minutes before the opening bell, Japan released data showing the devastating effect of the coronavirus on its trade.
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Japan booked a deficit of 833.4 billion yen ($7.8 billion) in May, the second straight monthly trade deficit, as both exports and imports dropped sharply,according to the finance ministry statistics.
Exports dived 28.3 percent year-on-year, and imports dropped 26.2 percent, reflecting the collapse in world trade amid the virus shutdowns.
But investors largely shrugged off the data, as the market consensus was for a 1.03 trillion yen deficit.
The dollar fetched 107.28 yen in Asian trade, against 107.31 yen in New York late Tuesday.
In Tokyo trading, automakers were lower with Nissan dropping 2.49 percent to 403.1 yen, and Honda down 1.16 percent to 2,918.5 yen.
Toyota lost 1.09 percent to 6,944 yen.
Uniqlo casual-wear operator Fast Retailing slid 0.22 percent to 62,860 yen while Sony bucked the trend, advancing 2.52 percent to 7,669 yen.
Agence France-Presse.
