Japanese stocks eke out gains, defensives sought

Tokai Carbon

28/08/2019 04:19

TOKYO, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Japanese shares posted modest
gains on Wednesday, led by buying in defensives such as
telecommunications and consumer-linked firms, though concerns
about Sino-U.S. relations kept a lid on gains.
    The Nikkei share average  .N225  rose 0.15% to 20,487.22,
drawing some support from higher Wall Street futures  ESc1  but
still not far from seven-month lows of 20,111.76 touched earlier
this month. 
    The broader Topix  .TOPX  gained 0.11% to 1,491.31.
    Financial markets have become weary of protracted trade
talks between the United States and China and growing
increasingly sceptical both sides will arrive at an amicable
trade deal in the near term.
    Telecommunication firm NTT  9432.T  jumped 2.6% while mobile
carriers KDDI  9433.T  and NTT Docomo  9437.T  gained 2.2% and
1.9%, respectively. Cosmetics maker Shiseido  4911.T  rose 1.8%.
    Topix Value  .TOPXV  rose 0.27% while growth shares  .TOPXV 
dipped 0.07%. Small cap shares were hit worst, with Topix Small
 .TOPXS  falling 0.42%.
    Precision machinery sectors fared the worst, falling 0.83%.
Among them, Terumo  4543.T  fell 1.75%. 
    On the main board, decliners outnumbered gainers by about
three to two.

 (Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
 ((hideyuki.sano@thomsonreuters.com; +81 3 6441 1827;))