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  • Last Update
    26-Dec-2020

Tokyo Shares End Lower in Thin Holiday Trade

 

AFP

 

Tokyo stocks ended nominally lower on Friday after thin trade with overseas investors absent over the Christmas holidays.

 
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.04 percent, or 11.74 points, at 26,656.61, for a weekly loss of 0.40 percent.
 
The broader Topix index edged up 0.23 percent, or 4.14 points, to 1,778.41 for a weekly loss of 0.83 percent. 
 
"The market was in the state of 'no selling in quiet times'," Okasan Online Securities said, referring to a Tokyo market maxim cautioning traders to reject the impulse to dump shares during quiet moments and remain patient until the next opportunity arises.
 
"The range was so narrow that no one felt shares move," the brokerage said in a note.
 
Overnight gains on Wall Street lifted the Tokyo market to open higher. The momentum however was short-lived, and investors searched for fresh news in sluggish trade.
 
Still, bargain hunting prevented a sharp fall of the market.
 
"The news that Britain and the EU reached a trade deal meant one fewer element of uncertainty, but investors did not see it as a major trading cue," SMBC Nikko Securities added.
 
Former prime minister Shinzo Abe faced tough questioning in televised parliament sessions about a scandal involving payments to his supporters, but that did not move the market either.
 
The dollar stood at 103.56 yen, against 103.70 on Thursday in New York.
 
Shortly before the market opened, the government said Japan's jobless rate was 2.9 percent in November, improving from 3.1 percent in the previous month.
 
Among major shares, SoftBank Group lost 3.15 percent to 7,692 yen following reports that Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, for which the Japan-based internet titan serves as a major shareholder, was facing an anti-trust probe by Chinese authorities.
 
Shipping firms fared better.
 
Nippon Yusen surged 6.50 percent to 2,392 yen, after the firm upgraded annual earnings outlook. Mitsui O.S.K. lines also roared 6.35 percent to 3,150 yen.
 
Automakers also enjoyed gains. Toyota rose 0.59 percent at 7,789 yen. Nissan trimmed early gains but still ended up 0.71 percent at 555.2 yen.
 
But Sony lost 1.36 percent to 9,953 yen. Nintendo travelled between positive and negative territory, and ended down 0.09 percent at 64,670 yen.
 
 

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