BCN-09, 10 Tokyo’s Nikkei ends year with first annual loss since 2011

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Tokyo’s Nikkei ends year with first annual loss since 2011

TOKYO, Dec 28, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei index closed lower
on Friday, ending the year with its first annual loss since 2011, as negative
factors including US-China trade tensions weighed on the market.

The bellwether index lost 12.1 percent from a year earlier to end at
20,014.77 in roller-coaster trade, while the broader Topix index was down
17.8 percent in 2018 at 1,494.09.

The Nikkei 225 index surged to a 27-year high in October on a cheap yen and
rallies on Wall Street but has since rolled downslope. The index lost more
than five percent on Tuesday to have the worst finish since April 2017.

On Friday alone, the Nikkei lost 0.31 percent and the Topix fell 0.50
percent as investors cashed in ahead of the New Year holidays.

The Tokyo markets will not resume trading until Friday next week.

The Nikkei last ended the year with a loss in 2011, when a massive
earthquake and tsunami hit the world’s third largest economy.

But it had scored annual rises since then, for which analysts credit Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe’s so-called “Abenomics” economic strategy.

“The Nikkei scored annual gains for the past six years under Abenomics but
it’s not the case any more,” Makoto Sengoku, market analyst at Tokai Tokyo
Research Centre.

“This is because of large swings caused by the Trump administration rather
than domestic problems,” he told AFP, noting President Donald Trump’s trade
spat with China weighed particularly on the market.

Japan “cannot be unaffected when the world’s two biggest economies are
fighting,” he said.

Naoki Fujiwara at Shinkin Asset Management said the market is still
forecast to recover the recent losses “once the US-China trade war and Brexit
can be settled.”

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Japanese corporate activity remains solid at least for now, which could
invite buy-backs sometime next year, he added.

Fresh government data released Friday confirmed Japan’s job market remains
tight, with unemployment staying low at 2.5 percent for November.

Factory output in November turned down 1.1 percent from the previous month,
but the drop had been widely expected after an October rise in production.

The dollar edged down to 110.68 yen in Asian afternoon trade from 111.02
yen in New York Thursday afternoon.

In Tokyo share trading, Sony dropped 1.07 percent to 5,326 yen with Toyota
down 0.14 percent at 6,406 yen.

Market heavyweight Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing lost 0.44 percent to
56,370 yen but SoftBank Group rose 0.34 percent to 7,305 yen.

BSS/AFP/SR/1940 HRS