TOKYO, July 7, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Tokyo stocks opened lower on Tuesday after three straight days in positive territory as investors cashed in on recent gains, with a lack of fresh buying incentives.
The key Nikkei 225 index fell 73.22 points, or 0.32 percent, to 22,641.22 in early trade while the broader Topix index was down 4.90 points or 0.31 percent at 1,572.25.
“The rise in Japanese stocks is likely to take a breather as investors take profits after three days of gains,” Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities, said in a note.
Global stock markets rallied again Monday, with fresh signs of an economic recovery resonating with investors more than a surge in coronavirus infections worldwide.
But “there has been nothing to cheer in the latest COVID-19 news, not that that has any bearing on the performance of risk assets at the moment,” noted Ray Attrill, strategist at National Australia Bank.
A survey released by Japan’s internal affairs ministry early Tuesday showed May household spending in the world’s third largest economy fell 16.2 percent from a year earlier, logging the worst drop since comparable data collection began in 2000.
The data hardly moved the yen, with the dollar trading at 107.30 yen in early Tokyo trade compared with 107.39 yen in New York Monday afternoon.
In individual stocks trade, IT investor SoftBank Group climbed 3.34 percent to 6,116 yen.
Toyota was down 0.84 percent at 6,801 yen while Nintendo gained 2.24 percent to 51,560 yen.