TOKYO: Tokyo stocks were flat on Tuesday, with investors keeping to the sidelines as major global markets remained closed for the Christmas holidays.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 was virtually unchanged at 22,938.40 by the break — just 0.78 points down — while the broader Topix index was down 0.08 percent, or 1.43 points, at 1,830.50.
“It is difficult to see a clear direction in the market as foreign investors are absent from trade with a transaction volume low,” Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary.
Investors are awaiting Thursday’s minutes of the Bank of Japan’s policy meeting last week for clues to the central bank’s future course of policy decisions, it said.
The dollar changed hands at 113.29 yen, almost unchanged from 113.25 yen in Tokyo late Monday.
Some blue-chip shares were lower, with Nintendo losing 0.80 percent at 42,020 yen and Canon trading down 0.29 percent at 4,406 yen.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial was down 0.40 percent at 836.4 yen while its rival Sumitomo Mitsui Financial slipped 0.71 percent to 4,882 yen.
Chinese stocks also opened flat on Tuesday. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index inched down 0.08 percent, or 2.62 points, to 3,277.84.
The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China’s second exchange, edged down 0.09 percent, or 1.78 points, to 1,882.11.
Hong Kong’s stock market is closed for a public holiday.
Source: Brecorder.com
