TOKYO, Sept 25 — Tokyo stocks closed lower today on risk-off sentiment after the launch of a formal impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump and amid renewed worries over the US-China trade conflict.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.36 per cent, or 78.69 points, to 22,020.15, while the broader Topix index fell 0.18 per cent, or 2.86 points, to 1,620.08.

“The Nikkei index fell after Wall Street dropped on political uncertainty,” Okasan Online Securities said.

Wall Street retreated yesterday before House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry after US markets closed.

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The news triggered “a sell-off in US equities, a solid bid in US Treasuries and broad decline in the USD,” wrote National Australia Bank’s strategist Rodrigo Catril in a note.

Also yesterday, the US president let rip on international trade during his address at the UN General Assembly, declaring that the time of Beijing’s “abuses” of the system was “over.”

“For years, these (trade) abuses were tolerated, ignored, or even encouraged,” he said, arguing that world leaders had been pushed “to ignore their own national interests.”

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The dollar fetched ¥107.31 (RM4.19), against ¥107.09 in New York and ¥107.57 in Tokyo today.

In Tokyo, some exporters were lower with game giant Nintendo dropping 4.32 per cent to ¥40,520 and Toyota 1.59 per cent to ¥7,342.

SoftBank Group fell 2.28 per cent to ¥4,436 after a report that US fair trade authorities called for a pause of the merger between T-mobile and SoftBank-controlled Sprint. — AFP