TOKYO: Tokyo stocks have ended 0.19 per cent lower as investors await the outcome of US Federal Reserve and Japanese central bank meetings, and track Greece’s precarious debt talks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday lost 38.67 points, to close at 20,219.27, while the Topix index of all first-section shares slipped 0.38 per cent, or 6.16 points, to 1,633.70.
“There are just so many catalysts we’re waiting for,” Akio Yoshino, chief economist at Amundi Japan, told Bloomberg News.
“We want to see what happens with the (Fed), Greece and Europe and whether they come to an agreement, and Japan’s growth strategy.”
Investors are looking for clearer guidance from the US central bank on its timing for an interest rate rise following a broadly upbeat string of data on the world’s top economy in recent weeks.
Friday sees the Bank of Japan conclude its own meeting, which will be watched to see if and when it will expand its stimulus program.
There are also concerns about Greece’s future in the eurozone as its troubled debt reform talks with creditors remain stalled with just two weeks until a deadline expires for it to repay billions of euros of loans.
