June 23 (Reuters) – Japanese stocks were flat in Thursday morning trading, reversing early gains made following an overnight session that saw Wall Street end down on the day as investors continued to worry over the possibility of a recession.
The Nikkei share average was down 0.01% at 26,146.71 at the break, continuing to trade above the psychological 26,000 mark after having dipped as low as 25,520.23 on Monday.
Of the Nikkei’s 225 components 106 made gains, while 112 lost value and seven were flat.
The broader TOPIX index gained 0.03% to 1853.18.
“When global markets are facing rate increases and recession, Japan is positioned differently,” said Shuji Hosoi, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities.
“The Bank of Japan decided to keep its monetary policy unchanged, and the economic activities have started picking up since the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted.”
But others had a murkier outlook.
“There is a strong sense of caution about an economic slowdown caused by tighter monetary policy in the U.S.,” said a market participant at a domestic securities company.
Toshiba shares gained 4.47% to 5,747 following a Reuters report overnight that bidders are preparing a takeover offer that would value the troubled conglomerate at 7,000 yen a share, or about $22 billion.
The Nikkei’s best-performing sector was utilities, up 1.12% overall. Basic materials firms dragged on the index, losing 2.3%.
Top Nikkei performers included travel firm Tokyu Corp , up 3.07%, Sumitomo Pharma Co Ltd, up 2.99%, and Tokio Marine Holdings Inc, up 2.53%.
Beverage manufacturers Sapporo Holdings Ltd and Kirin Holdings Co Ltd gained 2.12% and 1.97%, respectively.
The worst performing stock on the Nikkei was Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd, losing 5.52%. (Reporting by Sam Byford; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
Credit: Source link
