TOKYO: Tokyo stocks fell 0.61 percent Thursday morning as the yen strengthened against the dollar, hitting exporter shares, and as fears over China’s economic prospects dampened sentiment.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 122.49 points to 20,100.14 yen by the break, while the Topix index of all first-section shares fell 0.94 percent, or 15.42 points, to 1,633.06.
“The uncertain outlook surrounding China and the nearing US rate hike is weighing on the market,” said Soichiro Monji, chief strategist at Tokyo-based Daiwa SB Investments.
“With many investors still away on summer break and with volumes low, small selling is compounding the drop.”
US policy makers said in July that they need to see further improvement in the labour market and inflation rate before raising interest rates for the first time in nearly nine years, minutes from the Federal Reserve’s meeting showed Wednesday.
“The Fed is lacking decisive reasons to raise rates,” Mitsushige Akino, executive officer at Ichiyoshi Asset Management, told Bloomberg News.
“Concerns about the global economy are a burden, and cheaper oil increases concerns about global growth.”
