Japan Nikkei falls on profit booking

Headline indices of the Japan share market drifted lower after opening higher on Thursday, 04 October 2018, as investors continued withdrawing profit off the table after the Nikkei index hit a fresh 27-year high earlier this week. However, yen depreciation to mid 114 yen zone against greenback capped losses. Among TSE33 issues, 23 issues inclined, while 10 issues declined, with shares of Banks, Insurance, Oil & Coal Products, Glass & Ceramics Products, Marine Transportation, and Nonferrous Metals issues being notable gainers, while Pharmaceutical, Chemicals, and Services issues were notable losers. Around late afternoon trade, the 225-issue Nikkei index was down 151.04 points, or 0.63%, at 23,959.92. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 3.65 points, or 0.2%, to 1,799.08.

Shares of banks and financial players were up on the back of rising US Treasury yields, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial gaining more than 3% each.

Shares of major exporters were up on a weaker yen. Panasonic rose more than 1%, Sony added 0.5%, Mitsubishi Electric added 0.4% and Canon was up 0.2%.

CURRENCY NEWS: Japanese yen depreciated in the mid 114 yen zone against greenback on Thursday, as safe heaven demand dimmed on following upbeat U.S. data and comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell that were seen as hawkish. Powell said on Wednesday that the central bank may raise interest rates above an estimated "neutral" setting as the "remarkably positive" U.S. economy continues to grow. The dollar also was boosted after the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) non-manufacturing activity index jumped 3.1 points to 61.6 last month, the highest reading since August 1997. The ADP National Employment Report also showed private payrolls jumped by 230,000 jobs in September, the largest gain since February. The dollar stretched an overnight rally to touch 114.55 yen, its highest since early November 2017. It last stood at 114.345.

OFFSHORE MARKET NEWS, US stock market closed higher on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 54.45 points or 0.2% to 26,828.39, the Nasdaq climbed 25.54 points or 0.3% to 8,025.08 and the S&P 500 inched up 2.08 points or 0.1% to 2,925.51.

The major European markets ended stronger on Wednesday. The French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed 0.4% and 0.5%, respectively. The German markets were closed for a holiday.

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