TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo’s benchmark stock index ended flat Thursday morning, losing most of its early gains as profit-taking overshadowed fresh records on Wall Street and a cheaper yen.
The Nikkei 225 ticked up 6.41 points to 20,633.07 by the lunch break, after closing at its highest level in more than two years on Wednesday.
Tokyo’s broader Topix index reversed course to end the session down 0.07 percent, or 1.14 points, at 1,683.42.
The Japanese market was initially boosted by “rallies in US shares and a cheaper yen on the back of brisk economic data, but worries about overheating turned the market toward negative territory”, Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities, said in a commentary.
The dollar was hovering around three-month highs against the yen, changing hands at 112.73 yen on Thursday, unchanged from the level in New York.
A weak yen buoys the profitability of Japanese exporters and tends to drive their stock prices up.
In New York on Wednesday, all three major indexes notched up more records following strong US services-sector data.
Figures from the Institute for Supply Management showed growth in the US services sector hit a 12-year high, adding to positive sentiment ahead of third-quarter earnings reports and as Washington begins to make headway on tax cut policy.
Closely watched US jobs data is due Friday.
In Tokyo, Toyota climbed 0.89 percent to 6,790 yen and Honda was up 0.53 percent at 3,388 yen.
Japan’s number two automaker Nissan fell 0.36 percent to 1,085.8 yen after a more than one percent loss on Wednesday following reports alleging its domestic factories routinely forged inspection documents for new vehicles.
SoftBank slipped 0.37 percent to 9,209 yen after Uber’s board of directors Tuesday approved a proposed investment by the Japanese telecommunications giant, likely to top $1 billion.
Sony lost 1.87 percent to 4,138 yen and Panasonic was up 0.15 percent at 1,628 yen.
© Agence France-Presse
