TOKYO, Feb 3 — Tokyo stocks opened lower today, extending losses in New York, with investors cautious ahead of the Chinese market’s reopen after an extended closure following the new coronavirus outbreak.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 1.64 per cent, or 379.42 points, to 22,825.76 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was down 1.52 per cent, or 25.55 points, at 1,658.89.
“As the Shanghai market resumes trading today, investors are cautious” about a potential drop in the Chinese market, Yukino Yamada, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities, said in a commentary.
She noted that US shares fell sharply on Friday as US authorities declared a public health emergency and banned foreign nationals who have travelled to China recently from entering the country.
The dollar fetched 108.42 yen in early Asian trade, against 108.36 yen in New York on Friday.
In Tokyo, major exporters were lower across the board.
Nintendo dived 4.78 per cent to 38,820 yen, chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron fell 3.16 per cent to 23,725 yen, and Toyota was down 1.32 per cent at 7,551 yen.
Panasonic was down 2.31 per cent at 1,076.5 yen ahead of its third quarter to December earnings report due after the market close later today.
Sony was down 1.11 per cent at 7,632 yen ahead of its third quarter earnings tomorrow. — AFP
