Japan shares fall on profit-taking after election, firmer yen

ORIENTAL LAND

15/09/2020 04:21

TOKYO, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Japanese shares dipped on Tuesday
as a stronger yen pressured exporters and investors booked
profits after a three-day rally in the run up to the ruling
party election, where Abe ally Yoshihide Suga was picked as the
new leader.
    The benchmark Nikkei share average  .N225  fell 0.56% to
23,427.30 by the midday break, having hit a fresh seven-month
high in the previous session.
    The profit-taking came after Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary
Yoshihide Suga, a long-time loyal aide of Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe, was chosen head of Japan's ruling party on Monday, all but
confirming he would replace Abe as prime minister on Wednesday.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2GB07X
    The broader Topix  .TOPX  lost 0.68% to 1,639.80, with
highly cyclical iron and steel  .ISTEL.T , airlines  .IAIRL.T 
and land transport  .IRAIL.T  being the three worst-performing
sectors on the main bourse.
    Export-oriented firms slipped as the yen remained strong
against the dollar, staying close to a two-week high of 105.55
yen scaled the previous day.
    Canon Inc  7751.T  slipped 2.87%, while Panasonic Corp
 6752.T  fell 1.1%.
    Data on Tuesday showed China's industrial output rose 5.6%
and retail sales gained 0.5% in August from a year ago, as the
world's second-largest economy tried to regain its footing from
the fallout of the coronavirus outbreak.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nB9N2F802B
    The U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day meeting was also in
focus, as investors awaited clues on its monetary policy
outlook.
    Oriental Land  4661.T  dropped 1.12% after local media
reports said the Japanese operator of the Tokyo Disney Resort
would slash winter bonuses by 70%.
    SoftBank Group  9984.T  fell 0.64%, having marked its
biggest daily gain since late March in the previous session.
    Sony Corp  6758.T  skidded 1.67% after media reported the
company would reduce its PS5 production due to chip procurement
problems for the financial year.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2GC0CM

 (Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
 ((eimi.yamamitsu@thomsonreuters.com;))