Tokyo stocks open lower with eyes on US-China trade talks
Tokyo, Nov 19 (AFP/APP): Tokyo stocks opened lower on Tuesday as investors warily watched the latest developments in the US-China trade row, with few other fresh market-moving events.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.21 percent or 48.44 points at 23,368.32 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was down 0.18 percent or 3.00 points at 1,697.72.
Investors “remain hostage” to developments in the US-China trade talks, and latest reports from China “suggest the mood in Beijing was ‘pessimistic’ regarding the trade deal as Trump is supposedly not in favour of any tariff rollbacks,” Stephen Innes, chief Asia market strategist at AxiTrader, said in a note.
Similarly, Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities, said: “It is hard to seek higher share prices (in the Japanese market) unless concrete progress emerges from ongoing US-China trade talks.”
Tokyo shares open lower with eyes on US-China talks
News that the United States granted another 90 days for companies to cease doing business with China’s telecoms giant Huawei is helping improve the market sentiment however, Ito said in a note.
US President Donald Trump in May effectively barred Huawei from American communications networks after Washington found the company had violated US sanctions on Iran and attempted to block a subsequent investigation.
The battle over Huawei has landed squarely in the middle of Trump’s trade battle with Beijing.
US officials initially said the two were unrelated, but Trump has suggested a resolution to the trade conflict could involve reaching some common ground on Huawei.
The dollar fetched 108.56 yen in Asia against 108.68 yen in New York.
In Tokyo, major exporters were lower, with Toyota edging down 0.73 percent at 7,779 yen, Honda down 1.20 percent at 3,119 yen, and chip-making equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron down 0.52 percent at 23,040 yen.
Z Holdings, formerly known as Yahoo Japan, was down 5.69 percent after adding 1.19 percent in the previous session following its announcement of a merger with mobile messaging app Line.
On Wall Street, the Dow ended up 0.1 percent at 28,036.22.
