Tokyo Stocks Close Lower After US Falls

Tokyo, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2024) Tokyo stocks closed lower on Wednesday, weighed down by falls on Wall Street and a tsunami warning issued by Japan in the morning after an earthquake in Taiwan.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.97 percent, or 387.06 points, to 39,451.85, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.29 percent, or 7.94 points, to close at 2,706.51.

"Worries over the US inflation continued in the Tokyo market," while a magnitude-7.4 quake that hit eastern Taiwan also weighed on the market, Daiwa Securities said.

On Wednesday morning, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning for Japan's southern islands, but this was later lifted with no dangerously high waves reported.

The Dollar fetched 151.57 Yen in Asian trade, against 151.58 yen in New York.

Overnight, Wall Street stocks finished decisively lower as expectations for a delayed pivot on US monetary policy added to selling pressure.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 1.0 percent, the broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.7 percent and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.0 percent.

Adding to the selling pressure has been a rise in US Treasury bond yields -- a proxy for interest rates -- following unexpectedly high inflation data that has led analysts to push back expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.

Among major shares in Tokyo, Toyota ended down 0.36 percent at 3,620 yen, Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing dropped 3.34 percent to 45,410 yen, and Nintendo lost 4.19 percent to 7,806 yen.

Nippon Steel fell 2.14 percent to 3,613 yen. Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest declined 2.14 percent to 6,300 yen.