Tokyo shares fell for a second session on Thursday as commodity and energy-linked stocks took a hammering from weak oil prices. Traders were cautious after US shares closed lower on Wednesday, after news of a jump in domestic commercial stockpiles sent oil prices crashing and dragged on energy companies. The dollar rose after hawkish comments from a US central bank official, heaping pressure on commodity prices but failing to boost Japanese exporters despite pushing down the yen in comparison.
"Investors aren't feeling risk-on enough to pile into Japanese shares," Mitsushige Akino, executive officer at Ichiyoshi Asset Management, told Bloomberg News. "Extreme global risk-off sentiment has diminished and now people are turning neutral again - however there's a limit to how much buying demand there is."
A stronger greenback makes dollar-denominated commodities more expensive for people using other currencies, while a weaker yen helps Japanese exporters. By the close, Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index shed 0.64 percent, or 108.65 points, to 16,892.33, adding to the previous day's drop. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares declined 0.70 percent, or 9.59 points, at 1,354.61.
Japanese trading houses Mitsui and Mitsubishi ended Thursday's session deeply in the red as both are expected to log their first ever full-year net loss due to impairments on resources projects. Mitsui, which on Wednesday said it expects an annual net loss of around 70 billion yen ($620 million), slumped 7.50 percent to 1,299.5 yen, and Mitsubishi tumbled 4.07 percent to 1,920 yen. Tokyo-listed petroleum stocks were slammed by lower oil prices, with energy explorer Inpex down 5.00 percent to 875.7 yen and JX Holdings off 2.46 percent to 443.7 yen.
Steelmaker JFE Holdings slipped 3.14 percent to 1,491.5 yen as the dollar hurt metals prices, and Sumitomo Metal Mining dived 4.28 percent to 1,183 yen. Toyota declined 1.55 percent to 6,011 yen, Sony lost 1.61 percent to 2,863 yen, and China-linked factory robotics maker Fanuc slid 2.21 percent to 17,225 yen. Mobile carrier SoftBank was down 0.24 percent at 5,590 yen and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing, a market heavyweight, fell 1.41 percent to 36,240 yen.
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