Japan Nikkei falls on profit booking

Japan stock market finished session lower on Wednesday, 16 June 2021, snapping two-day rally as investors booked profit on tracking soft lead from Wall Street overnight and weaker than expected core machinery orders data. Sentiments were also subdued on caution ahead of the US Federal Open Market Committee's two-day meeting decision later in the global day.

At closing bell, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average declined 150.29 points, or 0.51%, to 29,291.01. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange edged up 0.38 point, or 0.02%, to 1,975.86.

Trading volume turnover in the 1st section increased to 1,028 million shares from 972 million shares in previous session. Trading value turnover increased to 2,426.29 billion yen from 2,372.58 billion yen in previous session.

Total 20 sectors of 33 sectors sub-indexes on the Tokyo exchange ended higher, with top gainers were Mining (up 3.3%), Marine Transportation (up 3.1%), Rubber Products (up 2.3%), Machinery (up 1%), Oil & Coal Products (up 1%), and Wholesale Trade (up 1%) sectors, while top losers were Other Products (down 1.7%),Air Transportation (down 1.4%),Land Transportation (down 1%), Services (down 0.8%), and Nonferrous Metals (down 0.5%) sectors.

Shares of cyclical issues such as shipping firms and sensitive to domestic demand found favor on hopes the increased pace of Japan's vaccination rollout will lead to a quickening of the country's economic reopening. Shipping firm Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha rose 4.9%. Department store operator Takashimaya added 2.1%, while Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings gained 0.2%.

Shares of material maker Unitika weighed heavily, falling 3.4%, while health care website operator M3 ended the day 2.7% lower. Battery manufacturer and supplier GS Yuasa retreated 3.2%.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Japan's exports in May rose 49.6% from a year earlier, data from the country's Ministry of Finance showed Wednesday. May's rise largely reflected the recoil effect of a 28.3% plunge in May of 2020. The jump followed a 38% rise in April. Imports rose 27.9% year-on-year in May, resulting in a trade deficit of 187.1 billion yen.

Japan's core machinery orders rose 0.6% in April from the previous month, the Cabinet Office data showed on Wednesday. Compared with a year earlier, core orders, a highly volatile data series regarded as an indicator of capital spending in the coming six to nine months, grew 6.5% in April.

CURRENCY NEWS: The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 90.492 after following a recent jump above 90.6. The Japanese yen traded at 109.98 per dollar, having weakened earlier this week from levels below 109.8 against the greenback.

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