Tokyo stocks fell on Friday as investors cashed out following declines on Wall Street overnight amid concerns over an impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Donald Trump.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended down 169.34 points, or 0.77 per cent, from Thursday at 21,878.90.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, finished 19.02 points, or 1.17 per cent, lower at 1,604.25.
The closing levels of both indexes were the lowest since Sept. 12.
The Nikkei index extended losses to more than 300 points at one stage, as investors’ unloaded shares of companies planning relatively high dividend payments for the April-September period, a day after the deadline for the rights to receive the dividends.
However, some market participants hunted for bargains as they saw shares dropping toward two-week lows.
By the close of play, every industry category except for precision instruments and mining lost ground, while electric power and gas, consumer credit and bank issues comprised those that declined the most, and declining issues outnumbered advancers 1,677 to 418 on the First Section, while 42 ended unchanged.
Among issues of companies planning relatively high dividends, trading house Sumitomo Corp. dropped 81.5 yen, or 4.6 per cent, at 1,692.0 yen, Daiwa Securities Group slumped 22.0 yen, or 4.3 per cent, to 489.7 yen and automaker Nissan Motor was down 25.9 yen, or 3.6 per cent, to 685.9 yen.
On the main section on Friday, 1,353.66 million shares changed hands, falling from Thursday’s 1,427.07 million shares. (Xinhua/NAN)