TOKYO, July 31 ― Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei index plunged more than 2.8 per cent today, extending its losing streak for a sixth trading day on a strong yen and a surge in coronavirus cases in the capital.
The Nikkei 225 index fell 2.82 per cent, or 629.23 points, to close at 21,710.00. It lost 4.6 per cent from Wednesday last week before a four-day holiday weekend.
The broader Topix index also lost 2.82 per cent, or 43.41 points, to 1,496.06, and dropped 4.9 per cent over the week.
“Negative factors such as a strong yen and record infections in Tokyo are mounting,” said Shinichi Yamamoto, a broker at Okasan Securities in Tokyo.
“Risk-averse sentiment is getting stronger, prompting investors to flee the market,” Yamamoto told AFP.
The dollar fetched ¥104.28 (RM4.23) in Asian afternoon trade, against ¥104.78 in New York late yesterday.
Tokyo's governor confirmed a record 463 new Covid-19 infections today, a day after the capital asked restaurants and bars to shut earlier to help contain the outbreak.
Investors largely shrugged off Japan's key economic indicators released earlier in the day, brokers said.
Japan's jobless rate in June stood at 2.8 percent, falling by 0.1 percentage points from the previous month, the first improvement in the past seven months, official figures issued by the internal affairs ministry showed.
Separate data by the labour ministry showed there were 110 jobs available for every 100 job-seekers -- compared to 120 jobs in May and 132 jobs in April.
In Tokyo, several firms plunged on first-quarter earnings that were worse than market expectations, with chip-testing equipment maker Advantest down 14.92 per cent to ¥5,700, Panasonic falling 13.29 per cent to ¥900 and construction machine maker Komatsu down 8.58 per cent to ¥2,066.
But components maker Kyocera was up 1.90 per cent at ¥5,844 after its first-quarter operating profit was better than analysts had expected. ― AFP
