The flagship Nikkei index fell 0.11% to 26,818.53 points and the broader Topix index virtually stagnated (-0.07% to 1,898.35 points).
The Tokyo Stock Exchange ended Monday in a cautious mini-lower ahead of a much-anticipated US Federal Reserve (Fed) monetary policy meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, during which the Tokyo market will observe a series of Japanese public holidays.
The flagship Nikkei index fell 0.11% to 26,818.53 points and the broader Topix index virtually stagnated (-0.07% to 1,898.35 points).
The Fed is expected to raise rates by half a percentage point on Wednesday, another step to calm inflation in the United States. But the institution will have to play a clever balancing act in the months to come, so as not to disrupt growth at the same time.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange will be closed from Tuesday until Thursday inclusive due to the holidays marking “Golden Week” in Japan.
Chinese markets, including the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, were closed on Monday due to the Labor Day holiday.
On the side of values
BUYBACK OF SHARES AT HITACHI: Hitachi stock jumped 6.71% to 6,480 yen. The industrial and technological conglomerate had delivered an avalanche of announcements on Friday after the closing of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, including a program to buy back its own shares for 200 billion yen (1.4 billion euros) for its new financial year 2022 /23.
The group will also sell its 40% share in Hitachi Transport System (HTS), its logistics subsidiary that the American fund KKR intends to buy back almost entirely for the equivalent of 4.9 billion euros. Hitachi must recover 10% of the capital of HTS once this company will be taken over by KKR.
ENEOS LEAVES BURMA: the title of the Japanese oil giant Eneos gained 0.85% to 460.1 yen. The group confirmed on Monday that it was going to withdraw from the Yetagun gas field in Burma, three days after a similar decision by the other foreign operators of this offshore operating site, the Malaysian Petronas and the Thai PTTEP.
On the side of oil and currencies
The oil market was declining amid lingering concerns over Chinese demand amid Beijing’s tightening Covid-19 measures. Chinese manufacturing activity also fell in April to its lowest level since February 2020, according to an indicator published on Saturday.
After 06:00 GMT the price of a US barrel of WTI fell 1.15% to 103.49 dollars and that of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea lost 1.17% to 105.89 dollars.
The yen was depreciating against the dollar, which was trading for 130.44 yen around 06:15 GMT against 129.70 yen at 21:00 GMT on Friday.
The course of the Japanese currency also fell against the euro, which was worth 137.15 yen against 136.77 yen at the end of last week.
The European currency fell to 1.0512 dollars against 1.0545 dollars on Friday at 9:00 p.m. GMT.