Japan shares drop on fears of second coronavirus wave
15/06/2020 04:23
TOKYO, June 15 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks fell on Monday as
concerns about a spike in new cases of COVID-19 worldwide poured
cold water on hopes of a quick recovery from a
coronavirus-driven global recession.
The benchmark Nikkei average dropped 0.50% to 22,194.99
.N225 by the midday break, with real estate, airlines and
shippers leading declines.
As new coronavirus cases resurfaced in China and the United
States, worries about a second wave have deepened, prompting
fears about prolonged damage to the economy. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2DP2LL
On the Nikkei index, there were 91 advancers against 125
decliners on Monday with cyclical shares leading the losses.
Airlines .IAIRL.T , one of the hardest-hit victims of the
global epidemic, were the biggest decliner among the Tokyo Stock
Exchange's 33 industry subindexes as concerns about the virus
reared their head.
Shippers .ISHIP.T dropped 0.4% and real estate .IRLTY.T
lost 1.4%.
Semi-conductor-related shares were weak, with chip equipment
manufacturer Advantest 6857.T dropping 3.57%, Tokyo Electron
8035.T losing 2.9% and Screen Holdings 7735.T shedding 2.7%.
Sapporo Holdings 2501.T lost 3.7 % after Nomura cut its
rating on the beverage firm and lowered the target price, citing
the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic.
The broader Topix .TOPX lost 0.1 % to 1569.60.
The market showed muted response to a barrage of Chinese
economic data that were slightly weaker than expected.
Industrial output rose for a second straight month in May
but the gain was smaller than expected, suggesting the economy
is still struggling to get back on track after the virus crisis.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2DS0OS
(Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu, Editing by Hideyuki Sano and
Uttaresh.V)
((eimi.yamamitsu@thomsonreuters.com;))