Tokyo Stocks Close Lower As Eyes Turn To Earnings

Tokyo stocks closed lower on Monday as Japan's ruling bloc retained its majority in the upper house as widely expected, with focus now shifting to corporate earnings announcements this week

Tokyo, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Jul, 2019 ):Tokyo stocks closed lower on Monday as Japan's ruling bloc retained its majority in the upper house as widely expected, with focus now shifting to corporate earnings announcements this week.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 0.23 percent, or 50.20 points, to 21,416.79, while the broader Topix index fell 0.49 percent, or 7.59 points, to 1,556.37.

The upper house election this weekend ended with a ruling bloc victory and a majority of seats in line with expectations, and did not upset the market, analysts said.

"As corporate earnings season starts this week... investors' eyes will shift away from expectations for excessive money flows to negative factors such as the worsening of corporate performances," Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary.

Resona Holdings said in a note: "A wait-and-see mood will likely strengthen later this week ahead of results from major companies.

" This week, Canon and Nissan are among the companies that will announce earnings while there will be a series of macroeconomic data and events, including US GDP data due on Friday and the European Central Bank meeting on Thursday.

"Stock markets globally may fluctuate as major events are scheduled to take place this week," Hirokazu Kabeya, chief global strategist at Daiwa Securities, said in a commentary.

The dollar fetched 107.99 yen in Asia trade, compared with 107.72 yen in New York on Friday.

In Tokyo, some blue-chip exporters were lower, with Sony ending down 0.24 percent at 5,824 yen, and Canon down 1.23 percent at 3,054 yen.

Asahi Group Holdings plunged 8.87 percent to 4,591 yen after the world's leading brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev said Friday it is selling its assets in Australia for 16 billion Australian dollars (US$11.3 billion) to Asahi.

On Wall Street, the Dow ended down 0.3 percent at 27,154.20.