Tokyo stocks closed slightly lower on Tuesday, stock data for Feb. 20 showed.
Stock market players continued to book gains after key indices hit 34-year highs, although declines were limited by purchases of export bonds as the yen weakened.
The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 106.77 points (0.28%) compared to Monday, falling to 38,363.61. The second most important Japanese index, the Topix, closed with a drop of 7.39 points, which is also 0.28%, and stopped at 2,632.30.
In the stock market section of first-tier shares (Prime), the leaders in decline were the securities of insurance companies, the pulp and paper industry, agriculture and fishing.
The Nikkei index briefly rose about 200 points in morning trading but fell short of its 1989 intraday and closing highs as the yen’s weakness sent investors rushing to buy cars and other export-oriented stocks, analysts said. .
Additionally, the indices were largely directionless during the day amid a lack of new trading signals as US financial markets were closed for a national holiday.
The market was also hit by counter-selling after the Nikkei and Topix indices hit 34-year highs on Friday and Monday, respectively. The drop in US stock futures also sent Japanese stocks lower.
The leaders of the fall: Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding (-6.93%), Rakuten Inc (-5.40%) and Sapporo Holdings (-4.57%), which showed double-digit growth in the last two sessions .
Growth leaders: Hitachi Zosen Corp (+4.14%), remaining in the top three for the second consecutive session, Aozora Bank (+3.70%) and Omron Cor (+3.36%).
Among the most actively traded stocks in Japan, the lead for the 18th trading day is held by shares of Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp (154.04 million), (158th trading day in the ranking). The second place was taken by the shares of the usual leader – the largest financial group in the country, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (80.53 million). The third position was occupied by the securities of Japan’s largest energy company, Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) (61.09 million), (6 pence). Shares of e-commerce company Rakuten (55.63 million), (4d) fell to fourth place. The top five business leaders were closed by the automobile giant Toyota Motor (32.11 million), (1d), which returned to the top.
Thus, the total trading volume of shares of the Japanese market leaders increased today to reach 383.4 million, which significantly exceeds the daily average for the last 30 days (314 million).
Source: Rossa Primavera
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