Japanese shares down 0.45% by lunch
Japanese shares down 0.45% by lunch
AFP
Tokyo: Japanese share prices fell 0.45% in morning trade on Thursday, 6 September, following overnight losses on Wall Street and a strengthening of the yen which hit exporters, dealers said.
They said investors reacted with disappointment to weak US housing data while a relatively upbeat assessment of the American economy from the Federal Reserve dampened hopes of a cut in US interest rates this month.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index of leading shares was down 72.92 points at 16,085.53 by lunch, well off an early low of 15,840.05.
The broader Topix index of all first-section shares dropped 13.44 points or 0.86% to 1,556.03 by the end of morning trade.
Decliners beat gainers 1,330 to 300 on the TSE first section, with 83 issues unchanged.
Turnover rose to 967 million shares from 763 million on Wednesday morning.
After Wednesday’s sharp losses, investors were reluctant to drive share prices down too sharply as they await fresh leads including a European Central Bank interest rate meeting, said Traders & Co analyst Katsuhiko Hiroshige.
Real estate shares were among the major decliners. Mitsui Fudosan shed 85 yen or 3.1% to 2,695 as Mitsubishi Estate dropped 85 yen or 3% to 2,810.
In the financial sector, Nomura Holdings fell 48 yen or 2.5% to 1,898 while Mizuho Financial Group lost 6,000 yen or 0.9% to 696,000 and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group dropped 17,000 yen or 2% to 855,000.
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