Japan Stocks fall 0.7%

Headline indices of the Japan share market closed lower on Monday, 3 September 2018, as risk aversion selloff triggered amid caution over US trade tensions with Canada after news emerged that US-Canada talks ended without an agreement on rewriting the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta). Investor sentiment was also hit by speculation that President Donald Trump's administration will impose tariffs on a further US$200 billion of Chinese imports as soon as this week. At closing bell, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.7%, or 157.77 points, to 22,707.38. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange dropped 0.87%, or 15.04 point, to 1,720.31.

Shares of exporters such as automakers and tech companies were lower, due to yen appreciation against greenback. Among major exporters, Toyota Motor Corp lost 1.64% to 6,816 yen and Honda was off 1.09% at 3,256 yen. Industrial robots maker Fanuc fell 2% to 21,345 yen and construction machine maker Komatsu closed down 0.60% at 3,142 yen.

 

Renesas Electronics fell 6.4% to 786 yen after reports that it was in the final stages of inking a six-billion-dollar deal to buy a US microchip maker.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Japan manufacturing conditions posts modest gain-- Stronger inflow of new works, production rises and increased employment helped Japan's manufacturing conditions to post moderate gain in August. Nikkei Japan Manufacturing PMI was up to 52.5 in August, from 52.3 in July. However, geopolitical risks cast shadow on the business sentiment.

CURRENCY NEWS: Japanese yen appreciated against greenback. The dollar stood at 111.91 yen on Monday compared with 111.02 yen in New York on Friday.

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