Japan shares retreat as COVID-19 vaccine, U.S. stimulus hopes wane

Taiyo Yuden

14/10/2020 03:58

TOKYO, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Japanese shares retreated on
Wednesday, following Wall Street's fall overnight as stalled
COVID-19 vaccine trials and lack of agreement on additional U.S.
fiscal stimulus weighed on market sentiment. 
    The benchmark Nikkei share average  .N225  eased 0.05% to
23,589.35 by the midday break, while the broader Topix  .TOPX 
lost 0.51% to 1,640.69.
    All but five of the 33 sector sub-indexes on the Tokyo
exchange traded lower, with airlines  .IAIRL.T , iron and steel
 .ISTEL.T  and miners  .IMING.T  leading the decline on the main
bourse.
    On Tuesday, major indexes on Wall Street ended lower as
Johnson & Johnson  JNJ.N  and Eli Lilly and Co  LLY.N  halted
coronavirus vaccine trials over safety concerns, dampening
investor sentiment.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2H406N  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2H442O
    Fading hopes for a new U.S. coronavirus relief package were
also weighing on the market, as U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
rejected a $1.8 trillion coronavirus relief proposal from the
White House.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2H40PZ
    Back home, Apple-related issues underperformed on
profit-taking and dented by a 2.7% fall in Apple Inc  AAPL.O 
shares following an event where the company unveiled its latest
iPhone.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2H4118 
    Both TDK Corp  6762.T  and Taiyo Yuden  6976.T  fell about
0.9%, and Murata Manufacturing Corp  6981.T  lost 0.63%.
    Financial shares also took a hit from a weak performance in
their U.S. peers, with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group  8316.T 
and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group  8306.T  down about 1.7%
each, while Mizuho Financial Group  8411.T  slipped 2.67%.
    ANA Holdings  9202.T  dipped 3.58% after reports that the
company was going to cut monthly wages for all workers by 5%.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2H42OZ
    Nippon Steel  5401.T  lost 3.04% on news that the company
would sell two U.S. plants as it speeds up a reorganisation in
overseas operations.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2H44U3 
    Elsewhere, the Mothers Index  .MTHR  of start-up firms
gained 1.19%.

 (Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
 ((eimi.yamamitsu@thomsonreuters.com;))