Tokyo stocks slightly lower on Tuesday as investors cast a wary eye on geopolitical crises and looked ahead to a key central banker meeting later in the week. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell for the fifth consecutive day as worries about a US-North Korea clash, the terror attacks in Spain and doubts about President Donald Trump's business-friendly agenda hurt sentiment. "The situation surrounding North Korea is a reason for staying away from active buying," Hiroaki Hiwata, strategist at Toyo Securities, told AFP.
China on Monday renewed its call for the United States and South Korea to suspend joint military drills as the two nations began annual war games that have infuriated the nuclear-armed North, which this month threatened to fire missiles toward the US Pacific territory of Guam. Traders are looking ahead to the Jackson Hole symposium in Wyoming on Friday, which brings together the world's top central bankers. The focus will be on Federal Reserve boss Janet Yellen and European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi as markets await details on the shift away from a period of exceptionally low interest rates and aggressive stimulus.
"The market is concerned about the result from the Jackson Hole meeting although probably no surprise will be provided either by ECB President Draghi nor by Chair Yellen," Toshihiko Matsuno, chief strategist at SMBC Friend Securities, told Bloomberg News. Tokyo's Nikkei index edged down 0.05 percent, or 9.29 points, to close at 19,383.84, while the broader Topix index of all first-section issues ticked up 0.06 percent, or 0.93 points, to 1,596.12.
Toyota fell 0.40 percent to 6,138 yen, while rival Nissan lost 0.27 percent to 1,092 yen. Videogame giant Nintendo rose 0.95 percent to 36,080 yen and Sony was up 0.19 percent at 4,191 yen while SoftBank tacked on 0.24 percent to 8,683 yen. Market heavyweight Fast Retailing, the operator of Uniqlo, slipped 0.06 percent to 30,910 yen. Fujitsu gained 0.59 percent to 810.9 yen after the Nikkei business daily said the IT company is looking to sell its mobile phone business. The dollar, which fell below 109 yen in early trade, fetched 109.18 yen.