TOKYO, April 21 ― Tokyo stocks opened lower today following falls on Wall Street, as worries over a surge in virus infections at home and abroad weighed on the market.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 1.56 per cent or 455.19 points at 28,645.19 in early trade, while the broader Topix index fell 1.47 per cent or 28.23 points to 1,898.02.
“Japanese shares are seen lacking an upward drive on concerns over expansion of coronavirus infections that sent US shares down,” Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary.
“At home, the government is reportedly planning to declare a state of emergency in Tokyo, Osaka, and Hyogo (west of Osaka), flattening the hopes of an early economic recovery,” it added.
The dollar fetched ¥107.88 (RM4.11) in early Asian trade, against ¥108.08 in New York late yesterday.
In Tokyo, Toshiba dropped 4.25 per cent to ¥4,165 after the firm said British private equity fund CVC would pause its buyout proposal of the Japanese company to await guidance.
Suzuki Motor was down 3.02 per cent at ¥4,428 after a report said it will cut output further by 10,000 units in Japan due to shortage of semiconductors.
Other automakers were also lower, with Toyota trading down 1.38 per cent at ¥8,302, Honda off 1.71 per cent at ¥3,218 and Nissan down 2.55 per cent at ¥543.
Chip-linked shares were also lower, with Renesas Electronics ― which aims to fully recover production capacity from a fire at its plant sometime next month ― trading down 3.01 per cent at ¥1,256 and chip-making equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron down 1.53 per cent at ¥48,150.
IT and investment giant SoftBank Group was off 0.49 per cent at ¥1,429.5 after a report said its net profit for the year that ended March is likely to be above ¥4 trillion thanks to rises in global share prices.
On Wall Street, the Dow ended down 0.8 per cent at 33,821.30. ― AFP
