Japanese shares track Wall Street lower as coronavirus cases mount

Hodogaya Chemical

08/07/2020 04:47

TOKYO, July 8 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average edged
lower on Wednesday, tracking Wall Street's overnight losses, as
investors monitored a rise in new virus cases across the world
that could derail a nascent economic recovery.
    The benchmark Nikkei share average  .N225  fell 0.19% to
22,571.55 by the midday break after moving in and out of
positive territory, with 102 advancers against 120 decliners.
    New coronavirus cases continue to climb globally, with
California reporting a record rise for a single day and
Australia's second-biggest city Melbourne re-imposing lockdown
measures on Tuesday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2EA06B  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2EE02F
    On the domestic front, capital Tokyo has been registering
fresh cases exceeding 100, but Economy Minister Yasutoshi
Nishimura said on Wednesday a new state of emergency for the
coronavirus is not needed.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nT9N2B305I
    The broader Topix  .TOPX  inched up 0.06% to 1,572.73 by the
recess, with about half of the 33 sector sub-indexes on the
Tokyo exchange trading higher.
    Japan Display Inc  6740.T , a main supplier of liquid
crystal display panel for iPhones, slumped 4.08% after a media
report that Apple Inc  AAPL.O  will use OLED screens for its
fifth-generation iPhones this year.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2EF03Z
    Shares of OLED manufacturers performed strongly, with
Hodogaya Chemical Co Ltd  4112.T  soaring 16.63%, Sumitomo
Chemical Co Ltd  4005.T  rising 1.23% and Idemitsu Kosan Co Ltd
 5019.T  edging 0.64% higher.
    Elsewhere on the market, mall operator Aeon Mall Co Ltd
 8905.T , which had temporarily closed its facilities following
the coronavirus outbreak, dropped 3.59%. 
    The company posted a group net loss of 13.48 billion yen for
the March-May quarter and projected a 4 billion yen loss for the
fiscal year ending February.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nXB1EXBION

 (Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
 ((eimi.yamamitsu@thomsonreuters.com;))