TOKYO, Aug 31 ― Tokyo stocks opened lower today after a mixed close on Wall Street with a dearth of fresh market-moving events and investors shifting their focus to Chinese economic data.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.67 per cent or 185.37 points at 27,603.92 in early trade, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.61 per cent or 11.96 points to 1,938.18.
On Wall Street, the Dow dropped but high-tech shares found favour following declines in long-term yields, driving up the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq indexes.
“Japanese shares are starting with declines as the mixed US market failed to give a fresh reason (to buy),” senior market strategist Toshiyuki Kanayama of Monex said in a note.
Investors were closely watching Chinese purchasing managers indexes for both manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors in August, to be released during Tokyo trading hours, he added.
The dollar fetched ¥109.94 (RM4.15) in early Asian trade, against ¥109.91 in New York late yesterday.
Among major shares in Tokyo, Toyota was trading down 0.79 per cent at ¥9,459, Sony was off 0.53 per cent at ¥11,175, and investment giant SoftBank Group was down 1.19 per cent at ¥6,079.
Among China-linked shares, construction machine maker Komatsu was down 0.79 per cent and engineering firm JGC was off 1.20 per cent at ¥907.
Japan's unemployment rate in July stood at 2.8 per cent, a 0.1 percentage point improvement from 2.9 per cent in June, according to data released by the internal affairs ministry before the opening bell.
The data did not prompt strong market reaction. ― AFP
