(Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks fell for a second day as investors turned cautious ahead of the U.K.'s general election and testimony from James Comey, the former head of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, on Thursday.
Electronics and drugmakers were the biggest drag on the Topix index as Astellas Pharma Inc. slid 4.1 percent after UBS cut its rating to sell from buy. U.S. stocks slipped from all-time highs as oil fell in New York. The yen appreciated 0.8 percent against the dollar. A weaker yen trend in recent months has buoyed the Nikkei 225 Stock Average, which breached 20,000 for the first time since December 2015 last week.
“There a strong sense of wanting to wait and see among investors ahead of former FBI director Comey's testimony and the U.K. elections,” said Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities Co. in Tokyo. “With both U.S. shares and Japanese shares trading near fresh highs, there's no need to jump on the bandwagon now, ahead of key events.”
Summary
- Topix -0.8% to close at 1,596.44 in Tokyo
- Nikkei 225 -1% at 19,979.90
- Yen 0.8% stronger at 109.60 per dollar
- CyberAgent -4.5% as analysts echo woes over Abema TV prospects
- Mitsubishi Tanabe -3.1% as Invokana drug faces patent challenges
- Calbee +1.7% after upgrade to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse
- Kirin +0.9% after rising as much as 5% to highest level in 30 years on Myanmar growth, Macquarie raises PT
For more on Japan markets:
Japan Notches $18 Billion of Soured Deals Amid M&A Boom (1)
Bitcoin Mania Infects Japan Stock Market's Smaller Listings (1)
MUFG Teams Up With Plug And Play for New Japan Venture
Strategists' 1H, Full-Year Forecasts for Japan's Topix (Table)
Strategists' 1H, Full-Year Forecasts for Nikkei 225 (Table)
--With assistance from Min Jeong Lee
To contact the reporters on this story: Livia Yap in Singapore at lyap14@bloomberg.net, Nao Sano in Tokyo at nsano3@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Vivek Shankar at vshankar3@bloomberg.net, Naoto Hosoda, Jonathan Annells
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
