TOKYO, Oct 2 ― Tokyo stocks closed lower today as falls on Wall Street weighed on the market.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 0.49 per cent or 106.63 points to end at 21,778.61, while the broader Topix index was off 0.42 per cent or 6.71 points at 1,596.29.
In New York, the Dow ended down 1.3 per cent. The broad-based S&P 500 shed 1.2 per cent, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.1 per cent.
“The Nikkei index slid after US stocks tumbled on on weak manufacturing data,” Okasan Online Securities said in a note.
“But the losses (on Tokyo markets) were limited due to a breather in the yen's rise against the dollar,” it said.
The dollar fetched ¥107.80 (RM4.19) in Asian trade, against 107.69 in New York and ¥108.25 in Tokyo late yesterday.
Kansai Electric (KEPCO) jumped 3.22 per cent to ¥1,266 as the firm held a second press conference to explain the details of “gifts” executives had received from a local official.
Last week, KEPCO's president admitted that he and other executives received money and gifts worth around US$3 million from a town hosting one of their nuclear plants.
Sony dropped 2.36 per cent to ¥6,200 after its gaming unit slashed the price of the PlayStation Now cloud video game service.
Automakers were among losers, with Toyota losing 1.20 per cent to 7,159 yen and Honda 1.76 per cent to ¥2,818.
China-linked shares were also lower, with industrial robot maker Fanuc falling 2.22 per cent to ¥20,005 and electronic parts maker Rohm 1.06 per cent to ¥8,370. ― AFP
