Japan's Nikkei touches 3-month low on Wall Street weakness

JAPAN TOBACCO

29/12/2022 03:33

TOKYO, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average
touched a near three-month low on Thursday, dragged lower by
Wall Street's weak performance overnight, with heavy technology
stocks leading the declines.
    The Nikkei index  .N225  lost 1.3% to 25,998.76 by the
midday break, its lowest since Oct. 3. The broader Topix  .TOPX 
fell 1.02% t 1,889.52.
    Wall Street's main indexes ended weaker overnight, with the
Nasdaq hitting a 2022 closing low, as investors grappled with
mixed economic data, rising COVID cases in China, and
geopolitical tensions heading into 2023.
     "With the absence of investors at home and abroad, there
was little support for the Japanese market that tracked U.S.
equities' weakness," said Shigetoshi Kamada, general manager at
the research department at Tachibana Securities.
    "Since the Bank of Japan (BOJ) tweaked its ulra-low rate
policy, the trend of Japanese shares changed. Until then the
market was supported by the cenral bank's loose monetary
policy." 
     Technology heavyweights dragged the Nikkei lower, with
startup investor SoftBank Group  9984.T  slipping 1.93%.
Chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron  8035.T  lost 1.27
and wafer maker Shin-Etsu Chemical  4063.T  fell 1.87%.
    Cigarette maker Japan Tobacco  2914.T  lost 6.16% and was
the worst performer on the Nikkei. 
   All but two of the 33 industry sub-indexes lost, with oil
explorers  .IMING.T  leading the declines with a 3.64% drop. The
shipping sector  .ISHIP.T  lost 3.06%.
    The real estate sector  .IRLTY.T  rose 0.23%, with Mitsui
Fudosan  8801.T  rising 1.92%.
    There were 20 advancers on the Nikkei index against 204
decliners. 
   The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo bourse's main board
was 0.52 billion, compared to the average of 1.19 billion in the
past 30 days. 
 (Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
 ((junko.fujita@thomsonreuters.com;))