Japan Nikkei extends losses on weak offshore tone, stronger yen

Headline indices of the Japan share market closed down for second straight session on Friday, 19 October 2018, as investors elected to book gains made midweek on tracking negative lead from Wall Street overnight and yen appreciation against greenback. Meanwhile, selloff pressure was compounded by concerns over U.S.-Saudi Arabia relations and fears of China's slowdown. Total 30 out of TSE 33 issues declined, with shares in Marine Transportation, Other Financial Business, Real Estate, Oil & Coal Products, Pulp & Paper, Rubber Products, and Machinery issues being notable losers. At closing bell, the 225-issue Nikkei index fell 126.08 points, or 0.56%, at 22,532.08. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange dropped 11.79 points, or 0.7%, to 1,692.85.

Shares of machinery-related players underperformed, with construction equipment maker Komatsu down 4.2%, while Kubota Corp lost 2.5% and Nabtesco Corp slipped 3.1%.

Export related shares were also lower after the yen strengthened overnight towards a one-month peak versus the dollar. Sony Corp lost 2.7% and Panasonic Corp gave up 1.1%. Toyota Motor Corp dipped 1.0%, Nissan Motor Co was down 0.6% and Honda Motor Co lost 1.4%.

ECONOMIC NEWS:Japan's consumer prices rose 1.2% year on year in September, shy of expectations of an unchanged level of 1.3% rise registered the previous month. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food prices, advanced an annual 1.0% - matching forecasts and up from 0.9% in the previous month. On a monthly basis, overall inflation was flat, while core CPI picked up 0.1%.

CURRENCY NEWS: Japanese yen appreciated against greenback on Friday. The Japanese yen was at 112.43 against the dollar after strengthening from levels above 112.5 yesterday.

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