TOKYO –Tokyo stocks closed lower on Thursday as investors locked in profits, following falls on Wall Street as United States lawmakers disagree over a proposed stimulus package.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.23%, or 61.70 points, to 26,756.24, while the broader Topix index was down 0.18%, or 3.21 points at 1,776.21.
“Japanese shares are dominated by sell orders on profit-taking as falls in US stocks are weighing on the market,” said Yoshihiro Ito, senior strategist at Okasan Online Securities.
“Expectations are high that the US Congress will reach an early agreement on a stimulus,” he said, but added that “US shares dropped as investors disliked uncertainty over negotiations on the economic relief package”.
The dollar fetched 104.42 yen in Asian afternoon trade, against 104.21 yen in New York late on Wednesday.
In Tokyo, SoftBank Group soared 10.90 % to 8,306 yen as the value of its stake in US food delivery app DoorDash rose massively following its initial public offering.
“The benchmark Nikkei's loss was significantly trimmed by SoftBank’s gain today,” said Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities.
Sony was down 0.54% at 9,818 yen after it announced it had agreed to buy US anime streaming giant Crunchyroll from AT&T for US$1.17 billion.
Chip-linked shares were lower, with chip-testing equipment maker Advantest dropping 3.70% to 7,540 yen and chip-making equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron down 2.01% to 36,420 yen. Meanwhile, Olympus dropped 1.31% to 2,220.5 yen and Fujitsu lost 0.68% to 13,740 yen and Nissan slumped 2.22% to 561.3 yen but Toyota jumped 1.78% to 7,480 yen. – AFP, December 10, 2020
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