Japan Nikkei falls on profit booking

Japan stock market finished session down on Tuesday, 03 August 2021, as investors booked part-profit after sharp rises in the previous session. Meanwhile, selloff was also fuelled after Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga flagged the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus variants infections among Japanese in their 20s and 30s.

At closing bell, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average declined 139.19 points, or 0.5%, to 27,641.83. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange dropped 8.91 points, or 0.46%, to 1,931.14.

Trading volume turnover in the 1st section decreased to 971 million shares from 1,062 million shares in previous session. Trading value turnover decreased to 2,136.41 billion yen from 2,457.27 billion yen in previous session.

Total 28 of 33 sectors sub-indexes on the Tokyo exchange ended down, with most declining sectors were Pulp & Paper (down 3.5%), Air Transportation (down 2.5%), Mining (down 2.4%), Oil & Coal Products (down 1.4%), Pharmaceutical (down 1.3%), Land Transportation (down 1.2%), and Iron & Steel (down 1.1%), while most advancing sectors included Marine Transportation (up 3.4%), Wholesale Trade (up 1.3%), and Precision Instruments (up 1%).

Investors locked in profits after the previous day's highs on concerns about the economy's prospects for recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic

Airlines shares were lower as governors urged people in Japan not to travel during summer holidays because of a surge in coronavirus cases. Japan Airlines plunged 3% to 2,197 yen while ANA Holdings dropped 2% to 2,491.5 yen.

Shares of energy-related companies declined after crude oil futures fell in New York trading, with Idemitsu Kosan falling 0.8% to 2,601 yen, Cosmo Energy Holdings declining 0.6% to 2,592 yen, and Eneos Holdings sliding 1.8% to 461.4 yen.

Among individual stocks, Mitsui & Co. gained 6.6% to 2,735.0 yen, after the trading firm revised upward its net profit estimate for the business year through March, expecting it to grow by 39.1% from the previous forecast in April.

M&A adviser GCA soared as much as 28.5% after U.S. boutique investment bank Houlihan Lokey launched a tender offer to acquire the company.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Four major Japanese department store operators registered 5 to 9 pct year-on-year growth in same-store sales in July, preliminary data showed Monday. Sales of luxury-brand products and jewellery were robust on the back of higher stock prices.

CURRENCY NEWS: The U.S. dollar fell slightly around the lower 109 yen range as the unit was sold after an overnight fall in U.S. Treasury yields. The dollar fetched 109.21-23 yen compared with 109.28-38 yen in New York and 109.66-68 yen in Tokyo on Monday.

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