Japan's Nikkei trades lower as investors continue to book profits

Kyocera

29/02/2024 03:00

TOKYO, Feb 29 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average
traded lower on Thursday, as investors sold stocks to lock in
profits from the index's record highs.
    The Nikkei  .N225  was down 0.65% at 38,953.49 by the midday
break, trading below the 39,000 level for the first time since
Feb. 22. 
    The broader Topix  .TOPX  fell 0.62% to 2,658.26. 
    "Investors sold stocks to lock in profits after the Nikkei
paused a rally," Naoki Fujiwara, senior fund manager at Shinkin
Asset Management, said.
    "But I see demand for buying stocks on dips. And investors
seem to have shifted their targets to smaller stocks."
    The Nikkei eased back on Wednesday from an all-time peak
scaled in the previous session, with technical signals
suggesting that the more-than-9% gain made over the previous
three weeks had been too rapid.
    On Thursday, technology investor SoftBank Group  9984.T 
fell 1.39% to drag the Nikkei the most. Ceramics maker Kyocera
 6971.T  lost 1.5%.
    Sentiment was hurt by the latest data from the finance
ministry, which showed foreign investors turned net sellers of
Japanese stocks in the week when the index scaled an all-time
high, Ryutaro Sawada, senior market analyst at Tokai Tokyo
Research Institute, said.
    Foreign investors sold 200 billion yen ($1.33 billion) of
Japanese stocks in the week ended Feb. 24, pausing a seven-week
buying streak. 
    Bucking the trend on Thursday, Aozora Bank surged 9.44%
after public disclosure showed an activist fund City Index
Eleventh owns 5.42% in the Tokyo-based bank. 
    Seven & i Holdings  3382.T  rose 4.83% after media reported
that the convenience store chain operator was considering
selling a supermarket unit to investment funds. A company
spokesman said there was no truth to it. 
    Shipping firms  .ISHIP.T , which lost 2.7% so far this week,
rose 1.29% to become the top performer among the Tokyo Stock
Exchange's 33 industry sub-indexes.
    
    
($1 = 150.0000 yen)

 (Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
 ((junko.fujita@thomsonreuters.com;))