TOKYO – Tokyo stocks were lower this morning, as profit-taking offset hopefulness spurred by positive vaccine news.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index edged down 0.18% or 47.46 points to 26,753.52 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 0.10% or 1.71 points at 1,775.68.
“Purchases on hopes for development of new coronavirus vaccines and profit-taking sales are having a mixed effect on the market,” Okasan Online Securities chief strategist Yoshihiro Ito said.
The dollar fetched 104.50 yen in early Asian trade against 104.41 yen in New York yesterday.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed the “fantastic” news that the United Kingdom’s independent medicines regulator has approved a vaccine just 12 months after the pandemic began in China, while urging the public to remain cautious as England exited a four-week lockdown and re-imposed regional curbs.
But European and United States investors largely shrugged off the news, which was already baked into valuations, and the Tokyo markets followed suit.
Here, automakers were higher following reports the Japanese government will ban new gasoline cars around the mid-2030s, with Honda trading up 0.72% at 3,069 yen and Toyota up 1.33% at 7,173 yen.
Elsewhere, Sony was down 0.42% at 9,578 yen and Sharp was down 1.15% at 1,374 yen, while Canon was up 1.05% at 1,965.5 yen.
Chip-linked shares were mixed with chip-making equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron rallying 1.85% to 37,530 yen, while chip-testing equipment maker Advantest slipped 0.40% to 7,520 yen.
On Wall Street, the Dow ended up 0.2% at 29,883.79 and the broader S&P closed up 0.2%, while the tech-rich Nasdaq ended down 0.1%. – AFP, December 3, 2020
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