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STOCKS-MARKETS-JAPAN-OPEN
Tokyo stocks open flat as trade worries weigh
TOKYO, June 6, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Tokyo stocks opened flat on Wednesday with
investors jittery over global trade tensions and European political
turbulence.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.04 percent or 8.08 points to
22,531.46 in early trade while the broader Topix index was up a fractional
0.07 points at 1,774.89.
The market is in “a wait-and-see mood due to growing trade tensions and
political uncertainty in Europe” while waiting for a historic US-North Korea
summit next week, said Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online
Securities.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Tuesday declared that his
eurosceptic government wanted to reduce the country’s huge public debt
“through growth”, not austerity, in his first speech to the country’s Senate.
And in Spain, Mariano Rajoy, a major political figure over the past 14
years, announced he will quit as head of the conservative Popular Party after
being ousted as prime minister last week.
On the other side of the Atlantic, US trade frictions with its neighbours
have shown no sign of abating.
Mexico announced duties Tuesday on a raft of US products ranging from
whiskey to apples in retaliation to the “unilateral adoption” by Washington
of steel and aluminium tariffs.
In Tokyo, Kobe Steel rebounded 0.90 percent to 1,119 yen after tumbling
more than one percent the previous day on a prosecutors’ raid on its
headquarters over a quality data fabrication scandal.
Subaru fell 1.22 percent to 3,395 yen after its president late Tuesday
announced his resignation over a mileage-data cheating scandal.
Nintendo dropped 1.19 percent to 40,370 yen while Sony rose 1.74 percent
to 5,483 yen.
The dollar was trading at 109.90 yen against 109.76 yen in New York
Tuesday afternoon.
BSS/AFP/HR/1035