TOKYO, Oct 7 — Tokyo stocks closed flat today after US President Donald Trump postponed talks on a new stimulus plan, while investors reacted positively to Japanese government subsidies for the hospitality sector.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index inched down 0.05 per cent, or 10.91 points, to end at 23,422.82, while the broader Topix index edged up 0.04 per cent, or 0.72 points, to 1,646.47.
“Tokyo shares opened lower following losses on Wall Street but there were expectations on local economic recovery with the ‘Go To’ tourism campaign,” Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities, said in a commentary.
The government scheme was launched to help revitalise the virus-hit travel and leisure industries around the country, and was extended to also include Tokyo businesses from October.
In the United States, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had resumed talks on a follow-up measure to the US$2.2 trillion (RM9 trillion) CARES Act, passed to blunt the effects of the coronavirus downturn.
But Trump accused the Democratic House leader of negotiating in bad faith, and said he’d asked Senate leader Mitch McConnell to instead focus on confirming his choice for an opening on the Supreme Court.
He tweeted that after the election, which he said he would win, “we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business”.
In Tokyo trading, Uniqlo casual wear operator Fast Retailing shed 0.31 per cent to 66,490 yen while Sony lost 0.74 per cent to 7,770 yen.
Drug makers were lower, with Takeda Pharmaceutical falling 1.21 per cent to 3,667 yen and Daiichi Sankyo dropping 3.30 per cent to 2,985 yen.
Panasonic climbed 0.43 per cent to 913 yen after the company announced plans to boost production of batteries for hybrid vehicles late yesterday.
The dollar fetched 105.72 yen in Asian trade, against 105.60 yen in New York late yesterday. — AFP
