Japanese shares fall on Evergrande jitters; bargain-hunting limits losses

TOTO

21/09/2021 04:12

TOKYO, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Japanese shares fell on Tuesday
tracking a sell-off on Wall Street, as fears of a potential
default by Chinese developer Evergrande Group  3333.HK  drove
investors out of equities, though losses were capped as traders
scooped up cheap stocks.
    The Nikkei share average  .N225  was down 2.03% at
29,880.27, as of 0207 GMT, while the broader Topix  .TOPX  lost
1.77% to 2,063.05.
    Growing fears of a possible default by Evergrande rattled
global markets on Monday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq suffering
their biggest daily percentage drop since May.  .N   MKTS/GLOB 
    But market participants said the impact of the sell-off on
the Japanese market was limited.
    "The market declined, but investors were calm and the mood
is rather positive," Shoichi Arisawa, general manager of the
investment research department at IwaiCosmo Securities said.
    Japan's Nikkei jumped more than 6% since the start of this
month as hopes of a new political leadership and falling
COVID-19 infections lifted investor sentiment. 
    "Investors who missed hopping on to the latest rally are now
buying shares on dips. They realized how Japanese shares have
been cheap following the rally that started late-August." 
    Index heavyweight SoftBank Group  9984.T  dragged the Nikkei
the most, falling 5.36% on Tuesday, followed by supplier of chip
equipment Tokyo Electron  8035.T  dropping 2.53% and
air-conditioning maker Daikin Industries  6367.T  down 3.57%.   
    Shares sensitive to global economy also declined, with steel
makers  .ISTEL.T  losing 3.53% and machinery makers  .IMCHN.T 
falling 3.01% while shippers  .ISHIP.T  slipped 2.89%. 
    But, travel-related shares rose on hopes of an economic
reopening as Tokyo witnessed a drop in COVID-19 infections. 
    Airliners ANA Holdings  9202.T  rose 1.7% and Japan Airlines
 9201.T  gained 3.09%. Central Japan Railway  9022.T , which
runs bullet trains between Tokyo and Osaka, gained 1.2%.
    Daiichi Sankyo  4568.T  was the best performer on the Nikkei
with gains of 7.43%, followed by Kansai Electric Power  9503.T ,
which rose 1.17%.
    TOTO Ltd  5332.T  fell 6.06%, making it the worst performer
in the index, while Komatsu  6301.T  lost 4.95%. 

 (Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
 ((813-4563-2711, junko.fujita@thomsonreuters.com, Reuters
Messaging:junko.fujita.reuters.com@reuters.net;))