Tokyo Stocks Close Lower On Fresh Trade Worries

Tokyo stocks closed lower on Wednesday, with the market weighed down by fresh concerns on US-China trade talks after Beijing hit out at the US over Hong Kong protests

Tokyo, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Nov, 2019 ) :Tokyo stocks closed lower on Wednesday, with the market weighed down by fresh concerns on US-China trade talks after Beijing hit out at the US over Hong Kong protests.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.62 percent or 144.08 points to 23,148.57, while the broader Topix index dropped 0.33 percent or 5.62 points at 1,691.11.

About an hour before the opening bell in Tokyo, the US Senate unanimously adopted legislation supporting "human rights and democracy" in Hong Kong.

Threatening to revoke the city's special status granted by Washington, the move signalled anger with Beijing about a crackdown on protests in the Chinese territory.

Following the passing of the Hong Kong rights bill, China's foreign ministry on Wednesday summoned a top US diplomat to lodge a strong protest.

"We strongly urge the US side to immediately take effective measures to prevent this bill from becoming law" and stop meddling in China's internal affairs, the ministry said in a statement.

"Investor sentiment has worsened over fears about US-China relations, as Beijing threatened retaliation against the US over the Hong Kong's human rights issue," Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities, said in a note.

Pessimism over trade is growing again, analysts said, after US President Donald Trump warned Tuesday: "If we don't make a deal with China, I'll just raise the tariffs even higher." In Tokyo, some major exporters were lower, with Toyota declining 0.85 percent to 7,688 Yen and Sony 0.85 percent to 6,697 yen.

Takeda Pharmaceutical lost 0.72 percent to 4,529 yen and market heavyweight Fast Retailing, the operator of Uniqlo casual wear, dropped 1.24 percent to 66,090 yen.

Japan booked a trade surplus of 17.3 billion yen ($160 million) in October, the first surplus in the past four months, the finance ministry said 10 minutes before the opening bell. The data did not move the market as investors shrugged off the news.