Tokyo Shares Open Lower After Falls On Wall Street

Tokyo, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Apr, 2024) Tokyo stocks opened lower Tuesday, trailing falls on Wall Street as investors dumped tech shares while monitoring tensions in the middle East.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 1.25 percent, or 490.62 points, to 38,742.18 in early trade, while the broader Topix index dropped 1.12 percent, or 30.75 points, to 2,722.45.

Global investors remain wary about what Israel may do next following Iranian missile attacks.

Rising US bond yields drove down US tech shares, a trend that also weighed on Tokyo tech stocks.

But Tokyo players stayed hopeful that bargain-hunters would provide support for the Nikkei.

"The market was expected to stay soft after falls of US shares overnight," brokerage house Monex said.

"A key will be whether the Nikkei index will attract bargain-hunting like it did yesterday," it said.

Investors will also monitor the forex market, where the Yen was drifting at its lowest point in more than three decades against the dollar.

The Dollar was at 154.29 yen, compared with 154.24 yen on Monday in New York.

Japan's finance minister and other top officials have repeated that they are prepared to take "necessary steps", suggesting that they could step in to support the Currency.

But such statements have done little to reverse the trend.

Among major shares, Toyota fell 1.91 percent to 3,695 yen. Nissan was off 0.49 percent to 583.6 yen.

Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing lost 1.59 percent to 40,960 yen.

Semiconductor firm Tokyo Electron dropped 3.59 percent to 37,880 yen.

Tech investor SoftBank Group lost 2.57 percent to 8,108 yen.