Japan Market falls for sixth straight session

Japan share market closed down for sixth straight session on Friday, 10 May 2019, on mounting concern about the outlook for the global economy after the United States raised its tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods. Total 19 issues of 33 subsectors of the Tokyo Stock Exchange declined, with shares in Nonferrous Metals, Precision Instruments, Foods, Information & Communication, Other Financial Business, and Marine Transportation issues being notable losers whereas Pharmaceutical, Oil & Coal Products, and Electric Power & Gas issues were notable gainers. At closing bell, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average was down 57.21 points, or 0.27%, at 21,344.92, while the broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was off 1.29 points, or 0.08%, at 1,549.42.

The import duty was raised to 25% from 10% on Friday after the United States and China failed to find a solution to their trade dispute in the first round of the two-day ministerial-level negotiations in Washington on Thursday. The two sides are pursuing last-ditch talks to try to salvage a trade deal.

Shares of exporters were weak amid the U.S.-China trade dispute. SoftBank Group tumbled 625 yen, or 5.4%, to 10,925 yen and Tokyo Electron shed 75 yen, or 0.4%, to 16,705 yen. Panasonic tumbled due to a profit warning for the same business year.

Mitsubishi Motors nose-dived as its forecast for operating profit in the business year to March 2020 fell far short of the market consensus.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Japanese yen continued appreciation against the dollar on Friday, as nervous investors seek safe-haven assets on heightened concerns about the outlook for the global economy. The dollar edged up 0.2% to 109.990 yen. The US currency was still down one% against the yen this week, having slipped to a three-month low of 109.470 overnight.

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