Nikkei edges lower as profit-taking hits

Japan’s Nikkei edged lower on Wednesday morning as profit-taking hit after the previous day’s sharp gains, though the drops were limited as the yen’s weakness against the dollar aided investor sentiment.

The Nikkei share average fell 0.4 per cent to 22,270.90 at the midday break, after soaring 2.3 per cent - its biggest one-day percentage gain since March - on Tuesday.

Japanese stocks were volatile early this week. They were hurt by contagion fears after the Turkish lira plunged and investors fled to the safe-haven yen, whose strengthening cuts Japanese manufacturers’ profits from abroad. Later, the lira stabilized, helping Japanese stocks rebound.

On Wednesday, profit-taking hit recent gainers among Japanese shares. Index heavyweights SoftBank Group and Fanuc Corp fell 1.5 per cent and 1.6 per cent, respectively.

Exporters were broadly lower, with Toyota Motor falling 0.6 per cent and Honda Motor dropping 0.9 per cent, while Panasonic Corp shedding 1.0 per cent, reports Reuters.

Suruga Bank tumbled 4.3 per cent after it said an employee falsely cancelled customers’ accounts and used 165 million yen to lend to business partners.

The broader Topix declined 0.4 per cent to 1,703.63.