Tokyo Stocks End Lower, Extend Global Sell-off

(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Tokyo stocks end lower, extend global sell-off

TOKYO,(UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Augst,2016) - Tokyo stocks extended a global sell-off Wednesday, slipping for a second session with banks tumbling as investors were left underwhelmed by a government stimulus package. After Tokyo's markets closed Tuesday the government unveiled details of a 28 trillion Yen ($273 billion) fiscal plan to kickstart the economy, but the latest of several such attempts over the years fell flat. The programme includes 6.0 trillion yen in low-interest loans and just 7.5 trillion yen in fresh spending -- about a quarter of the total -- by the national and local governments. The announcement came after the Bank of Japan disappointed markets with modest tweaks to its own stimulus measures on Friday. Hopes had been building through July that authorities would come up with a strong plan to support growth after Britain's shock vote on June 23 to leave the European Union sent shudders through world markets. "After all the build-up, it's a disappointment," Shane Oliver, a global investment strategist at AMP Capital Investors, told Bloomberg news.

At the close, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 1.88 percent, or 308.34 points, at 16,083.11, following the previous day's sharp 1.5 percent drop. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares slumped 2.17 percent, or 28.22 points, to 1,271.98. On forex markets, the Dollar tumbled as low as 100.75 yen in Wednesday afternoon trading in Tokyo from 100.90 yen Tuesday in New York, before recovering slightly to 100.99 yen. Banking stocks tanked on fears about the difficulty lenders face making money in a negative interest rate era as their bottom lines come under pressure. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group closed 3.90 percent lower at 492.3 yen, rival Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group dived 4.28 percent to 3,149 yen and Mizuho Financial Group was 3.31 percent off at 160.3 yen. Honda bucked the downtrend, soaring 3.82 percent to 2,865 yen after the car maker on Tuesday reported an April-June net profit that beat market expectations.