TOKYO – Tokyo stocks opened lower today after a mixed close on Wall Street, with lingering worries over a rise in virus infections in Japan.
The benchmark Nikkei index was down 0.21% or 62.85 points at 29,688.76 in early trade, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.41% or 8.05 points to 1,950.50.
Investors are seeking reasons to buy stocks “but worries over expanding coronavirus infections are weighing on the market,” senior strategist Yoshihiro Ito of Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary.
Covid-19 surges across Japan have forced the government to tighten restrictions only weeks after they were lifted, and the country’s inoculation drive is lagging behind some other countries, with less than 1% of the population vaccinated so far.
In Osaka, the spike prompted the governor to bar the Olympic torch relay from public roads. It is instead being carried around a closed course at a park, with spectators kept out.
Toshiba jumped 4.46% to 4,800 yen after reports said its president Nobuaki Kurumatani will resign later in the day as a buyout offer from a private equity firm stirs turmoil inside the Japanese firm.
Toshiba issued a statement saying only that its board of directors would meet “and is scheduled to discuss the appointment of representative executive officers”.
Other reports said one or possibly two separate funds were considering counter-offers to buyout Toshiba.
Among other shares, Hitachi was down 1.31% at 5,180 yen and Honda was off 0.79% at 3,264 yen, while chip-testing equipment maker Advantest was up 0.85% at 10,720 yen.
The dollar fetched 108.84 yen in early Asian trade, against 109.06 yen in New York late Tuesday.
On Wall Street, the Dow ended down 0.2% at 33,677.27 but the broad-based S&P closed up 0.3% and the tech-rich Nasdaq was up 1.1%.
Separately, Hong Kong stocks opened sharply higher.
The Hang Seng Index jumped 1.05%, or 299.30 points, to 28,796.55.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was flat, inching up 0.55 points to 3,397.02, while the Shenzhen Composite Index on China’s second exchange added 0.05%, or 1.00 points, to 2,188.56. – AFP, April 14, 2021
