Wednesday, 19 August 2015 09:43
TOKYO: Tokyo stocks fell 0.52 percent on Wednesday morning, tracking falls on Wall Street and another drop on China’s main index as weak trade data hinted at the fragility of Japan’s recovery.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange slid 105.97 points to 20,448.50 yen by the break, while the Topix index of all first-section shares lost 0.41 percent, or 6.86 points, to 1,665.36.
Shortly before the opening bell, official data for July pointed to weakness in Japanese exports as demand falls in major market China, fuelling concerns about the world’s number three economy, which contracted in the second quarter.
Tokyo also picked up a weak lead from Wall Street where the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.19 percent following a mixed batch of earnings from retailers including Wal-Mart.
Investors remain jittery about China after the benchmark Shanghai index tumbled 6.15 percent on Tuesday, its biggest fall in three weeks. It fell more than five percent in Wednesday morning trade.
“Another big drop in Chinese equities is leading to concern over the Chinese economy,” SMBC Nikko Securities manager Hiroichi Nishi told Bloomberg News.
“We’re lacking reasons to aggressively buy in Japan.”
Automaker Nissan’s shares fell 0.42 percent to 1,163.0 yen while rival Toyota slipped 0.12 percent to 7,957.0 yen.
Market heavyweight Fast Retailing, operator of the Uniqlo chain, was down 0.26 percent to 54,370 yen.
However Toshiba soared 8.31 percent to 396.1 yen, after the scandal-hit conglomerate announced late Tuesday it would appoint a host of renowned Japanese business people as outside directors.
The management shuffle comes as one of Japan’s best-known firms was hammered by a billion dollar accounting scandal that uncovered a corporate culture in which top bosses routinely pressured subordinates to inflate profits.
On currency markets, the dollar fetched 124.31 yen, edging down from 124.38 yen in New York.
