Tokyo stocks close lower, investors cash in on gains

Tokyo stocks wiped out early increases and closed lower on Friday as investors cashed in on recent gains.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index edged down 0.12 per cent, or 27.38 points, to 23,619.69. Over the week, however, it jumped 2.6 per cent.

The broader Topix index lost 0.49 per cent, or 8.09 points, to 1,647.38, but advanced 2.4 per cent from a week earlier.

Tokyo stocks had opened higher, extending rallies on Wall Street on revived hopes for US stimulus.

But shares closed in negative territory "due to profit-taking after the Nikkei showed a strong performance this week," said Shinichi Yamamoto, a broker at Okasan Securities in Tokyo.

"Players will continue closely watching the US presidential election while paying attention to individual shares" as Japan will soon enter its interim corporate results season, Yamamoto told AFP.

The dollar fetched 105.84 yen in Asian afternoon trade against 106.03 yen in New York late Thursday.

Japan's household spending in August was down 6.9 per cent year-on-year, against market expectations of a 6.7 per cent decline, according to data released by the internal affairs ministry before the opening bell.

The latest figure is the 11th consecutive monthly decline, after a 7.6 per cent decline in the previous month, with the country suffering the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

In Tokyo, SoftBank lost 1.24 per cent to 6,997 yen on profit-taking, as Toyota fell 0.95 per cent to 6,967 yen with Nintendo down 0.34 per cent at 58,130 yen.

But Uniqlo casual wear operator Fast Retailing surged 2.86 per cent to 69,220 yen and Sony was up 0.38 per cent at 7,862 yen.

Takeda Pharmaceutical jumped 1.55 per cent to 3,712 yen after it announced that a Covid-19 treatment clinical trial it is involved in has entered its final Phase 3 stage with patients in the United States.

If successful, the project backed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases may eventually "become one of the earliest treatment options for hospitalised Covid-19 patients", it said.