Tokyo shares dip on worries over rising coronavirus cases
22/06/2020 08:33
TOKYO, June 22 (Reuters) - Japanese shares edged lower on
Monday, moving in a narrow range, as worries about the growing
number of coronavirus infections across the world kept investors
on edge.
The benchmark Nikkei share average retreated from early
slight gains and finished 0.18% lower at 22,437.27, with 72
advancers against 147 decliners.
The World Health Organization reported a record increase in
global coronavirus cases on Sunday, with the biggest rise in
North and South America. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2DY0PU
Sentiment was also weighed by iPhone maker Apple Inc
AAPL.O announcing a temporary shutdown of its 11 stores in
Florida, Arizona, South Carolina and North Carolina on Friday.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2DW39H.
The announcement hit Apple-related stocks in Japan, with
Alps Alpine 6770.T , Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd 6981.T and
Rohm Co Ltd 6963.T falling between 0.67% and 1.25%.
While some market players said the rising daily infections
in Tokyo dampened hopes of Japan's economic recovery, others
noted that its impact was small.
"It is not regarded as a huge risk, at least in Japanese
markets, since Japan is still far from an outbreak that could
lead to restrictions being imposed again," said Yutaka
Masushima, market analyst at Monex Securities in Tokyo.
In the broader market, Topix .TOPX fell 0.23% to 1,579.09,
with almost two-third of 33 sector sub-indexes on the Tokyo
exchange in negative territory.
Airlines .IAIRL.T and land transport stocks .IRAIL.T
declined the most among Tokyo Stock Exchange subindexes, falling
1.65% and 1.89%, respectively.
A bright spot was Toshiba Corp 6502.T , which climbed 4.9%
after the company said it plans to monetise its stake in former
flash memory chips unit Kioxia Holdings and return a majority of
the net proceeds to shareholders. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nT9N2D004S
Startup firm shares also bucked the market's overall
weakness, with Mothers Index .MTHR advancing 1.28%, hitting
its highest level since October 2018.
(Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Amy
Caren Daniel)
((eimi.yamamitsu@thomsonreuters.com;))