Tokyo stocks open lower ahead of BoJ policy outcome
Tokyo, (MILLAT ONLINE):Tokyo stocks opened lower on Thursday, tracking a fall on Wall Street as investors awaited the outcome of the Bank of Japan’s policy meeting.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.20 percent, or 44.97 points, to 22,846.75 in early trade while the broader Topix index was down 0.12 percent, or 2.18 points, at 1,818.98.
Wall Street shares paused for breath on Wednesday following recent record-setting gains, with a long-awaited US tax cut plan moving near the finish line.
The yen was lower against the dollar after the US Congress passed the sweeping tax reform, which President Donald Trump promised would deliver a shot in the arm for the world’s largest economy.
A cheaper yen is positive for Japanese exporters as it boosts their profitability.
Early trading will be done “in a tug-of-war between positive sentiment on the yen’s fall against the dollar and negative sentiment out of lower US stocks,” Okasan Online Securities said in a note.
The dollar was changing hands at 113.32 yen, slightly lower than 113.40 yen in New York but still up from rates below the 113 mark when Tokyo closed on Wednesday.
Nervous trading is also expected before the Bank of Japan wraps up a two-day policy meeting later Thursday.
Investors expect the central bank will stay pat but will closely examine remarks by BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda at an ensuing press conference for any signal of preparations to scale back its massive easing programme.
Subaru kept falling on allegations that the automaker may have cheated on fuel efficiency data, losing 1.78 percent to 3,416 yen after the previous day’s seven-percent plunge.
Toyota, which expects record global sales for 2018, gained 0.46 percent to 7,284 yen.