Tokyo stocks close lower weighed by falls across Asia

17 Dec, 2021

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks closed lower on Friday over profit-taking following rallies in the previous session and weighed down by falls in other Asian bourses.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed down 1.79 percent or 520.64 points at 28,545.68, while the broader Topix index slipped 1.42 percent or 28.61 points to end at 1,984.47.

"Falls in Chinese and other Asian shares are worsening market sentiment, prompting profit-taking sell orders," senior strategist Yoshihiro Ito of Okasan Online Securities said.

Concluding a two-day meeting, the Bank of Japan decided to partially extend its special loan programme to support companies hit by the pandemic but decided to scale back other measures, while keeping its key monetary policy unchanged.

The latest central bank decision did not prompt a strong market reaction.

The dollar fetched 113.51 yen in late Asian trade, against 113.67 yen in New York on Thursday.

Among major shares in Tokyo, Toshiba closed down 1.88 percent at 4,652 yen, after it laid out measures to improve corporate governance and relationships with shareholders.

Sony Group ended down 1.35 percent at 13,850 yen after its music division confirmed that Bruce Springsteen has sold his music rights to Sony, a deal reportedly worth half a billion dollars.

Takeda Pharmaceutical was up 0.10 percent at 3,142 yen after the company said it has submitted an approval request for Novavax's Covid-19 vaccine to the Japanese health ministry.

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