Tokyo Stocks Fail to Turn Buoyant Despite Buying Dip

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
Tokyo Stock Exchange

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Tokyo stocks failed to stage a turnaround Monday despite support from investors seeking profits with the buying-the-dip strategy.

The Nikkei average of 225 issues listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Prime section dropped 82.73 points, or 0.25%, to finish at 32,698.81, marking a decline for the third market day, the longest losing streak since middle of March.

The broader TOPIX index extended losses by 4.56 points, or 0.20%, to close at 2,260.17.

The market got off to a weak start following all three major U.S. price gauges’ decline on Friday reflecting rekindled worries about a global economic slowdown. But, it soon erased the initial losses to hover around the flat line.

“Moves to buy the dip by investors who had been slow in buying Japanese stocks became active,” said Masahiro Ichikawa, chief market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Co.

The sell-offs in the past two sessions “alleviated worries about an overheated market,” Maki Sawada, strategist at Nomura Securities Co., pointed out.

However, both the Nikkei and TOPIX indexes went back and forth between negative and positive terrains later amid a dearth of powerful market-moving factors, brokers said.

On the Prime section, decliners outnumbered gainers 1,134 to 632 while 68 issues were flat. Volume shrank to 1,170 million shares from Friday’s 1,588 million shares.