Tokyo shares end lower on Fed rate hike concerns

TOKYO (AFP): Tokyo shares fell Monday after Wall Street dipped on lingering worries about the impact of future rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gave up 0.61 percent, or 198.69 points, to end at 32,189.73, marking five straight sessions of losses, while the broader Topix index fell 0.51 percent, or 11.57 points, to 2,243.33.

Investors renewed their caution over a potentially prolonged cycle of rate hikes by the United States Fed after seeing higher-than-expected growth in average hourly earnings in the United States, IwaiCosmo Securities said in a note.

“There were moments of natural rebounds in Tokyo after the Nikkei index had lost more than 1,300 points in the last four sessions,” the brokerage house said.

But the market came under pressure from broad worries about a slowdown and rate hikes in Europe and the United States, it said.

The Japanese government’s monthly “Economic Watchers Survey” also eased for five straight months to weigh on the market, IwaiCosmo added.

The dollar stood at 142.43 yen in Tokyo on Monday afternoon against 142.08 yen in New York and 143.49 yen in Tokyo on Friday.

Among major shares, Toyota fell 1.72 percent to 2,260 yen.

Nintendo lost 0.72 percent to 6,305 yen. Sony Group dropped 1.35 percent to 12,830 yen.

Heavily weighted Tokyo Electron, which makes tools to build semiconductors, dropped 1.51 percent to 19,900 yen.

Advantest, which produces tests for semiconductors, lost 2.50 percent to 19,470 yen.

Meanwhile, SoftBank Group rose 0.64 percent to 6,767 yen.

Fast Retailing, which operates the Uniqlo brand, added 0.26 percent to 34,650 yen.