Nikkei inches lower while traders wait on Fed

Fujikura

26/07/2022 08:40

SINGAPORE, July 26 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei  .N225 
notched a small decline on Tuesday, while the broader Topix
 .TOPX  was flat, as investors kept to the sidelines ahead of
Wednesday's U.S. Federal Reserve meeting.
    The Nikkei closed 0.16% lower, its second straight daily
drop. Turnover, as on Monday, was light.
    "Markets are definitely in a wait-and-see mode, what you're
seeing is gentle position adjusting," said Jeffrey Halley at
brokerage OANDA in Singapore, ahead of the Fed, U.S. growth data
and a slew of U.S. earnings. "It's the calm before the storm."
    Tech investor SoftBank Group Corp  9984.T  rose 3.2% - its
biggest daily gain in about a month - after Hong Kong shares
rose for one of its holdings, Chinese tech giant Alibaba
 9988.HK . Alibaba plans to add a primary listing in Hong Kong.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2Z700O
    Other gainers included insurer Tokyo Marine Holdings Inc
 8766.T , up 1.6%, engineering firm JGC Holdings  1963.T , and 
oil and gas exporter Inpex  1605.T , up 3.3%. Supply concerns in
Europe are lifting global energy and gas prices.
    Japan also upgraded its overall view on the economy for the
first time in three months in July, with the government turning
more positive on consumption and jobs.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2Z703Y
    Minutes from last month's Bank of Japan meeting underscored
policymakers resolve to keep interest rates low.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2Z700S
    Underperformers among the Topix 30 were Nidec Corp  6594.T ,
down 1.57%, followed by Nintendo Co Ltd  7974.T , losing 1.20%.
    The dollar traded firmly at 136.68 yen  JPY= . Traders
expect a 75 basis point U.S. rate hike on Wednesday, but there
are doubts around the future path for rates amid signs of a few
wobbles in the U.S. economy.  FEDWATCH 
    The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
main board  .TOPX  was 0.91 billion, compared to the average of
1.21 billion in the past 30 days.

 (Reporting by Tom Westbrook and Vidya Ranganathan in Singapore;
Additional reporting by Junko Fujita in Tokyo; Editing by David
Holmes)
 ((tom.westbrook@tr.com; +65 6973 8284;))