Tokyo shares lower as Mitsubishi Materials plunges
Tokyo, (MILLAT ONLINE):Tokyo shares opened lower Friday, pressured by a strong yen and following sharp falls in the Shanghai market while Mitsubishi Materials plunged after news of a quality control scandal emerged.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.54 percent, or 121.78 points, to 22,401.37 in early trade while the broader Topix index fell 0.46 percent, or 8.10 points, at 1,768.98.
Tokyo investors returned to trade after a national holiday on Thursday, when the US markets were also closed for Thanksgiving, while European bourses put in a lukewarm performance.
Shanghai meanwhile lost 2.29 percent on Thursday, which was also seen placing some downward pressure on the Tokyo market.
The dollar stood at 111.36 yen, little changed from 111.21 in Europe Thursday, but dropping from levels above 112 yen seen in Tokyo on Wednesday.
“With the yen firming, major shares faced selling pressure,” said Okasan Online Securities.
Mitsubishi Materials plunged 8.19 percent to 3,755 yen after admitting that its group firms falsified data and shipped products that did not meet orders from customers.
Panasonic fell 0.38 percent to 1,690 yen. Toyota fell 1.06 percent to 7,004 yen.
But Sony firmed 0.89 percent to 5,334 yen and SoftBank added 0.79 percent to 9,725 yen.