Nikkei edges lower in choppy trading

Japanese stocks edged lower on Wednesday morning in choppy trade after China’s President Xi Jinping helped ease fears over a US-China trade war.

The markets fell slightly after witnessing a strong rally the previous day, but index-heavy SoftBank jumped.  The Nikkei shed 0.15 per cent to 21,762.28 in midmorning trade.

Food shares also lost ground, with Kikkoman shedding 3.3 per cent and Asahi Group sliding 1.9 per cent.

SoftBank Corp, Sprint Corp’s majority owner, jumped more than 5.0 per cent in early trade after sources said that Sprint has restarted talks to merge with T-Mobile US Inc.

SoftBank was the most traded stock by turnover, contributing a hefty 40 points to the Nikkei index.

The broader Topix declined 0.1 per cent to 1,731.13.