Japan's Nikkei surrenders gains to end lower after four-day rally
15/06/2023 08:09
TOKYO, June 15 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average
gave back its gains to inch lower on Thursday as investors
locked in profits after the index's sharp gains in a
four-session winning run.
The Nikkei index .N225 ended 0.05% lower at 33,485.49. It,
however, traded higher for most of the day, including rising as
much as 0.8% to a fresh 33-year high, before reversing course to
snap the four-day rally in which it had gained 6%.
The broader Topic .TOPX inched 0.2% lower to 2,293.97 on
the day.
"The selling power outweighed the buying force after the
Nikkei rose so sharply in the past four days," said Shuji Hosoi,
senior strategist at Daiwa Securities.
"Investors did not react to a weak yen today."
The yen slipped to its weakest level so far this year on
Thursday, as the U.S. dollar rallied after the Federal Reserve
signalled rate hikes later in the year. FRX/
Toyota Motor 7203.T rose 0.45%, but cut most of its early
gains. Rival Honda Motor 7267.T slipped 0.55%.
Drug makers fell, with Eisai's 4523.T 5.91% slide making
it the worst performer on the Nikkei, while Daiichi Sankyo
4568.T lost 3.98%.
Overall, drug stocks .IPHAM.T fell 1.8%, the most among
the Tokyo Stock Exchange's 33 industry subindexes.
Gains in chip-related shares supported the Nikkei, with
Advantest 6857.T and Tokyo Electron 8035.T climbing 1.88%
and 2.01%, respectively. Screen Holdings 7735.T rose 2.36%.
Brokerages .ISECU.T was the top performing sector, with a
3.86% increase, followed by the shipping sector .ISHIP.T ,
which rose 1.91%.
Some strategists said the Nikkei would rise further after a
pause, supported by demand from foreigners.
Foreign investors were net buyers of Japanese stocks for the
11th straight week in the week ended June 10, when they bought
1.3 trillion yen ($9.22 billion) worth of shares, more than
twice the previous week's 600 billion yen, according to data
from the Ministry of Finance released on Thursday.
($1 = 141.0000 yen)
(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee
and Savio D'Souza)
((junko.fujita@thomsonreuters.com;))