Tokyo stocks slipped 0.37 percent Thursday on profit-taking after the previous day's hefty gains and following a sell-off on Wall Street. The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 56.81 points to finish at 15,138.96. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares lost 0.33 percent, or 4.07 points, to close at 1,232.34. The "sharp run-up is inviting yet another day of profit-taking", said Daisuke Uno, strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking.
"This is the pattern of overshooting and correction that has become the norm," he added, referring to large swings in the market since last week. "The bottom line is that investors are wary of weak economic fundamentals in Europe and Japan, slowing (in) China and the overstretched US market rally to place much faith in any more stock gains in the next several weeks."
The Nikkei trimmed some of its early losses as the yen weakened against the dollar, a plus for exporters, and after upbeat Chinese manufacturing data. The dollar rose to 107.23 yen from 107.14 yen in New York Wednesday. But "a lot of investors are now opting to not trade at all than take the risk of getting chopped up," said an equity trading director at a European brokerage.
Auto parts maker Takata tumbled 6.16 percent to 1,582 yen following a report that US officials are investigating the firm over an air bag defect that may have killed several drivers. Sony eased 0.39 percent to 1,901.5 yen after US billionaire Daniel Loeb said he had sold his stake in the struggling firm following his failed bid to spin off part of its entertainment unit last year. Wall Street fell on mixed earnings reports, with the broad market retreating from three straight sessions of big gains.
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