Tokyo Stocks Down On Strong Yen With Eyes On Earnings

Tokyo stocks closed lower Thursday as the yen strengthened against the dollar and investors looked past a Wall Street rally

Tokyo, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Aug, 2020 ):Tokyo stocks closed lower Thursday as the yen strengthened against the dollar and investors looked past a Wall Street rally.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.43 percent, or 96.70 points, to end at 22,418.15, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.31 percent, or 4.83 points, to 1,549.88.

"Domestic pension money and asset managers are taking profits in names that have outperformed and announced earnings," Takeo Kamai, at CLSA Securities Japan, said. "Next week is technically the start of Obon holidays, and turnover and activity may quiet down as a result." A closely watched non-manufacturing index released Wednesday "improved for the third straight month" and President Donald Trump's positive comments that key US jobs data due this weekend would see big numbers "is giving a sense of relief" to investors, said Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities.

A new US study that showed positive results for a coronavirus treatment involving blood transfusions was also good news, said Rodrigo Catril, senior strategist at National Australia Bank.

"Even if a vaccine is slow in coming, better treatment options should over time reduce the 'fear' of COVID-19 and therefore allow economic conditions to gradually normalise," he said.

The dollar fetched 105.50 yen in Asian trade, against 105.60 yen in New York and 105.68 yen in Tokyo late Wednesday.

Honda dropped 6.31 percent to 2,648.5 yen after the automaker reported a net loss for the first quarter and reduced dividends.

But rival Toyota advanced 2.28 percent to 6,800 yen after it reported net and operating profits for the first quarter to June, although both slumped from the same period last year.

The automaker also warned of a 64 percent drop in full-year net profit as the coronavirus pandemic shreds the global auto market.

Nintendo, which was expected to report the financial results later in the day, edged up 0.18 percent to 49,190 yen.

SoftBank Group slid 0.68 percent to 6,548 yen while Sony lost 0.31 percent to 8,468 yen.