TOKYO, Dec 14 ― Tokyo stocks fell today, extending falls on Wall Street ahead of a US Federal Reserve decision and with markets weighing worries over the latest coronavirus variant.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.73 per cent, or 207.85 points, to 28,432.64, while the broader Topix index lost 0.22 per cent or 4.32 points at 1,973.81.
“Investors were in a wait-and-see mode” ahead of the US central bank decision due tomorrow, Okasan Online Securities said in a note.
The Fed is widely expected to lay out an accelerated timetable for scaling back stimulus in the face of the highest consumer price inflation in decades.
That would open the door to an interest rate increase by mid-2022 or earlier.
Falls in US stocks also weighed on the Tokyo market, analysts said, after Britain bolstered its response to Omicron as it announced the first fatality from the variant.
The dollar fetched ¥113.56 (RM4.23) in Asian trade, compared to ¥113.58 in New York yesterday.
Toyota jumped 2.14 per cent to ¥2,045 ahead of a presentation on its electric vehicle strategy on Tuesday.
Honda advanced 0.60 per cent to ¥3,184 while Nissan dropped 2.81 per cent to ¥535.1.
Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing tumbled 2.72 per cent to ¥67,860 while SoftBank Group slid 0.87 per cent to ¥5,522.
Nippon Steel climbed 0.35 per cent to ¥1,852 while JFE Holdings slipped 0.35 per cent to ¥1,410, after a report said Washington has made an offer to Tokyo aimed at resolving disputes over tariffs imposed on Japanese steel and aluminium under former president Donald Trump in 2018.
A separate report in the business daily Nikkei said Nippon Steel is looking to buy electric furnaces in Thailand as a way to cut CO2 emissions. ― AFP
