Japan Nikkei falls on profit taking

Japan stock market finished session lower on Wednesday, 12 June 2024, giving up some of the gains in the previous two sessions on profit-taking, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight amid cautious ahead of the US Labor Department report on consumer price inflation for May and the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting outcome due later on Wednesday and the Bank of Japan's policy decision later in the week.

Market participants are focusing in particular on the (Fed's) dot plot for clues on whether there will be one, two, or three interest rate cuts this year. Attention is also on whether the Bank of Japan will decide in a two-day monetary policy meeting starting Thursday to reduce its bond purchases in a step toward normalizing its monetary policy

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average index was down 258.08 points, or 0.66%, to finish at 38,876.71. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange dropped 20.36 points, 0.73%, to 2,756.44.

Total 31 of 33 TSE sectors declined, with Pulp & Paper, Securities & Commodities Futures, Marine Transportation, Real Estate, Precision Instruments and Services issues being notable losers.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Japan's Producer Prices Surge to 2.4% in May 2024 - Producer prices in Japan rose 2.4% year-on-year in May 2024, up from 1.1% in April, marking the highest increase since August last year. Significant rises were seen in nonferrous metals, scrap & waste, and petroleum & coal products, while prices fell for electric power, gas & water, and lumber & wood products. On a monthly basis, producer prices increased 0.7%, the highest growth since December 2022.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Japanese yen was little changed in lower 157 level against greenback on Wednesday. The dollar fetched 157.11 yen in Asian trade, unchanged from the level in New York overnight.

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