Tokyo blue-chip shares range-bound after record Dow finish

TOKYO – Tokyo’s blue-chip shares traded in a narrow range today following another record finish for the Dow, as Washington accelerates its Covid-19 vaccination programme, fuelling hopes for further economic recovery.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index zigzagged from yesterday’s close in early trade and was up 0.17%, or 48.62 points, to 29,433.14 shortly after the opening bell.

The broader Topix index fell 0.70%, or 14.05 points, to 1,979.29.

Shares faced selling on the ex-dividend date near the end of the current fiscal year as they started trading without the value of their next dividend payment.

Investors continued to digest warnings issued yesterday by major financial institutions Nomura of Japan and Switzerland’s Credit Suisse that they could face significant losses following reports of their exposure to a United States fund that liquidated billions in stocks last week.

But, the global market did not react strongly to the announcements overnight.

Nomura Holdings headed south at the start, but trimmed losses to 2.39%, trading at ¥588.6 (RM22.20) in early trade.

Financial sector shares will see “nervous trade in the immediate term”, said Okasan Online Securities in a note.

“But overall hopes for a general economic recovery are seen providing support for the market.”

Investors cheered US President Joe Biden’s announcement of additional measures to boost vaccination efforts, stoking hopes for a swift return of economic activities.

They also welcomed news that a giant ship is being removed from the Suez Canal after blocking the key waterway for almost a week.

Shortly before the market opened, the Japanese government announced that the nation’s unemployment rate last month stood at 2.9%, flat from January.

The dollar bought ¥109.81, compared with ¥109.78 in New York.

Among major shares, SoftBank Group rose 1.44% to ¥9,211. Uniqlo-operator Fast Retailing surged 2.88% to ¥88,880.

Sony was down 0.77% to ¥11,545, while Toyota dropped 2.19% to ¥8,280.

Chip manufacturer Renesas was down 2.57% at 1,177 ahead of an afternoon press conference expected to discuss new details of a fire at one of its plants that threatens to worsen the global semiconductor shortage.

Reports yesterday suggested that the fire has created more extensive damage than initially reported, though it is not yet clear whether that will set back the timeline for the firm to recover capacity. – AFP, March 30, 2021