Nikkei ekes out gains as investor caution drives defensive stocks

Tokai Carbon

28/08/2019 07:51

TOKYO, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Japanese shares posted slim gains
on Wednesday, led by buying in defensives such as
telecommunications and consumer-linked firms, though concerns
about Sino-U.S. relations capped 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 20,110.76 touched earlier
this month.
    The broader Topix  .TOPX  gained 0.11% to 1,491.31.
    Financial markets have become concerned about 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.
    "I think (U.S. President Donald) Trump will make a deal with
China in the end. But it will take some time and for the moment,
markets will remain shackled by anxieties," said Tsuyoshi
Shimizu, head of research at Asset Management One.
    Telecommunication firm NTT  9432.T  jumped 2.6% while mobile
carriers KDDI  9433.T  and NTT Docomo  9437.T  gained 2.5% and
1.9%, respectively. Cosmetics maker Shiseido  4911.T  rose 2.1%.
    Topix Value  .TOPXV  rose 0.21% while growth shares  .TOPXV 
dipped 0.1%.
    On the main board, decliners outnumbered gainers by about
three to two, despite gains in the main indexes as small cap
shares fared poorly, with Topix Small  .TOPXS  falling 0.43%.
    Machinery makers  .IMCHN.T , one of the sectors that are
most vulnerable to the Sino-U.S. trade war, were the worst
performing sector, falling 0.8%.
    Trade was slow, with volume on the main board at 1.616
trillion yen, about 30% below the average over the past year.
    The Mothers index  .MTHR  of start-up shares fell 1.41% to
an eight-month low.

 (Reporting by Tokyo Markets Team, Editing by Jacqueline Wong
and Sam Holmes)
 ((hideyuki.sano@thomsonreuters.com; +81 3 6441 1827;))