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STOCKS-JAPAN-CLOSE LEAD
Tokyo stocks edge down at the close
TOKYO, Dec 19, 2017 (BSS/AFP) – Tokyo stocks ended lower on Tuesday as
investors took profits off the table ahead of the start of the year-end
holiday season.
The Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.15 percent, or 33.77 points, to close at
22,868.00. The broader Topix index was down 0.15 percent, or 2.72 points, at
1,815.18.
Shares gained in early trade following rallies in global markets as a
massive US tax cut plan neared its final passage.
But the key index lost steam after approaching the psychologically
important 23,000 level.
“After a buying spree on expectations on legislation of the US tax reform
in morning trade, profit-taking purchases started to take place,” SBI
Securities said in a commentary.
“Blue-chip shares were sold as investors shifted towards the end of this
year’s trade,” said Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online
Securities.
Panasonic closed down 0.62 percent at 1,664 yen while Mitsubishi UFJ
Financial was down 0.47 percent at 817.7 yen.
As panda frenzy reached a climax Tuesday with hundreds of fans flocking to
a Tokyo zoo for the first public viewing of a baby panda cub, related shares
dropped on profit-taking.
Operators of restaurants near the zoo after rising intermittently in the
past few weeks. Totenko sank 7.92 percent to 2,357 yen and Seiyoken plummeted
16.36 percent to 1,589 yen.
The dollar traded 112.52 yen, against 112.56 yen in New York late Monday.
BSS/AFP/SR/1645 HRS