TOKYO: Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei index closed lower on Friday as fears of a global trade war grew after Washington imposed steel and aluminium tariffs on the European Union, Canada and Mexico.
The Nikkei 225 index fell 0.14 percent or 30.47 points to 22,171.35, logging a weekly fall of 1.24 percent.
The broader Topix index edged up 0.10 percent or 1.72 points to 1,749.17, but was down 1.27 percent over the week.
“Markets have strong concerns about a possible global trade war,” said Okasan Online Securities chief strategist Yoshihiro Ito.
Investors were “increasingly wary of the possibility that this would drive the US economy down by causing price rises and a negative impact on industry”, he said in a commentary.
Wall Street fell on Thursday as Washington imposed the steel and aluminium tariffs.
The announcement by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross immediately drew retaliatory action by Mexico, Canada and threats of the same by the EU, while France called the tariffs “illegal”.
Investors were also keeping an eye on Italian politics as populist parties reached a new coalition deal, setting in motion an anti-austerity government in the eurozone’s third-largest economy.
Paolo Savona, the eurosceptic economist originally proposed for economy minister but rejected by the country’s president, is now slated for a post as European Affairs minister.
“The market will need to keep an eye on the path ahead, with a fiscal expansion planned to address Italy’s economic underperformance,” said David de Garis, director of economics and markets at National Australia Bank.
In Tokyo trade in individual stocks, Nintendo dropped 4.00 percent to 43,200 yen following rallies on plans to introduce its Pokemon series to Switch.
Toshiba fell 0.98 percent to 303 yen after the embattled conglomerate said it completed the $21 billion sale of its prized chip unit to an investment consortium.
The auto sector was mixed as Toyota climbed 2.90 percent to 7,122 yen but Nissan lost 0.32 percent to 1,077 yen.
SoftBank Group edged down 0.03 percent to 7,762 yen after General Motors announced SoftBank Vision Fund will invest $2.25 billion in GM Cruise self-driving car unit.
The dollar was trading at 109.09 yen against 108.81 yen in New York Thursday afternoon.
Source: Brecorder
