Tokyo stocks finish lower as Omicron spread continues

2021-12-06 08:35:53 GMT2021-12-06 16:35:53(Beijing Time) Xinhua English

TOKYO, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks finished lower on Monday after the Nikkei benchmark retaking the 28,000 lines the previous trading day, as the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 spread overseas, pushing investors to lock in short-term profits.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average finished 102.2 points, or 0.36 percent, lower from Friday at 27,927.37.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed 10.32 points, or 0.53 percent, lower at 1,947.54.

Trading volume on the main section decreased to 1,086.94 million shares from Friday's 1,233.33 million shares.

Tokyo stocks opened high from outset but dropped quickly in the morning. However, after the Nikkei index once approached to around the 27,500 lines, the stock market trimmed losses on dip buying toward the end of the day.

Market participants turned risk-averse due to uncertainties over the global economic recovery amid Omicron spread, brokers said.

Kazuo Kamitani, a strategist in the Investment Content Department of Nomura Securities Co., said investors were closely paying attention to whether economic activities would be restricted due to the fast-spreading variant, adding, "Japanese businesses are currently performing well but questions are arising regarding whether further growth can be expected, especially in the services sector."

By the close of play, information and communication, pharmaceutical, and services sectors were major decliners. Losing issues outnumbered gaining ones 1,245 to 835 on the First Section, while 104 finished unchanged.

SoftBank Group sank 8.2 percent due to the bad performance of its portfolio, and the giant has declined 19.04 percent in past five trading days.

Online stock brokerage firm Monex Group, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck Inc., plunged 7.5 percent after Bitcoin dropped over the weekend amid investors cutting down risker assets.

In addition, Nexon, an online game company that had bought 100 million U.S. dollars' worth of Bitcoin in April, fell 2.8 percent in response to the decrease. Enditem

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