TOKYO: Tokyo stocks ended lower on Thursday after Wall Street fell as the US job market cooled further and oil prices tumbled.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 1.76 percent, or 587.59 points, to end at 32,858.31, while the broader Topix index slid 1.14 percent, or 27.29 points, to 2,359.91.
The dollar fetched 146.43 yen, against 147.35 yen on Wednesday in New York.
The Tokyo market “was in a wait-and-see mood ahead of the November US jobs data,” IwaiCosmo Securities said. “Partly prompted by a reaction to sharp rallies yesterday, selling on profit-taking was also prominent,” the brokerage added.
Overnight in Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2 percent, while the broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.4 percent.
US crude oil prices fell more than four percent to finish below $70 a barrel for the first time in five months, denting petroleum-linked shares.
Traders in Japan took cues from the US falls, and “the risk-averse sentiment also prevailed after major Asian markets experienced falls”, Daiwa Securities said.