Japan Market falls 0.3%

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Japan share market closed lower on Wednesday, 17 July 2019, tracking losses on Wall Street overnight and fresh US-China trade tensions after US President Donald Trump suggested he could impose new tariffs on Chinese goods. Most of subsectors of the Topix's index dropped, with precision instrument, securities house, and information and communication-linked issues being notable losers. At closing bell, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average fell 66.07 points, or 0.31%, to 21,469.18, while the broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange shed 1.33 points, or 0.08%, at 1,567.41

The Tokyo market opened lower, after the Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped its five-session record-breaking streak on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday after the U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Washington and Beijing have a long way to go on trade, adding that America could place tariffs on an additional $325 billion worth of Chinese goods if needed.

Trump's comments come after China and the U.S. agreed not to ratchet up trade tensions in an effort to restart negotiations, with the two countries already having slapped billions of dollars worth of tariffs on each other's goods. The protracted trade fight between the two economic powerhouses has raised concerns over its potential impact on economic growth as well as business confidence.

Meanwhile, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Tuesday reiterated his pledge to act as appropriate to keep the economic expansion going, amid expectations that the central bank could cut interest rates in July.

Morinaga Milk Industry and confectionary-maker Morinaga fell 7.7% and 3.3%, respectively, after they denied reported merger discussions. Technology investor SoftBank Group dived 2.4%, and Fast Retailing soured 0.6%. Among other major losers were information technology service company GMO Internet and electronics giant Panasonic. On the other hand, Matsumotokiyoshi Holdings jumped 3.4% in response to the drug store operator's plans to expand into Vietnam and Hong Kong. Also on the positive side were construction machinery-maker Komatsu and online stationery retailer Askul.

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