INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
TOKYO: Japanese stocks tracked global peers and tumbled on Tuesday, with the Topix closing at 19-month low, as worries about cooling global
growth took a toll on cyclical stocks.
The Nikkei share average ended the day down 1.82 percent at 21,115.45 after touching 21,107.13, its
11.
The index edged towards a trough of 20,971.93 reached in late October, and a drop below that level would take it to a nine-month
low.
The broader Topix closed 1.99 percent lower at 1,562.51, its weakest point since May 2017.
Cyclicals such as electronics products
makers and technology stocks - sectors generally seen benefiting when the economy is expected to perform well - bore the brunt of
selling.
Fujitsu Ltd slid 2.9 percent, Sony Corp tumbled 4.4 percent, Nintendo Co declined 3.3 percent and Sumco Corp shed 1.2
percent.
"Mid-to-long investors are changing their global asset allocations to reflect their risk-averse stance," said Shogo Maekawa, global
market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management.
"They are reducing risky assets like stocks and adding more fixed income products such as
short-term United States bonds."
On Monday, Wall Street's major indexes all slid more than 2 percent on concerns about slowing economic
growth ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting this week that will be closely watched for clues on the United States monetary policy outlook in
2019.
Exporters sagged with the yen reaching its strongest level in a week against the dollar
Toyota Motor Corp fell 0.9 percent, Bridgestone Corp lost 1.5 percent and Nikon Corp shed 1.1 percent.
Tuesday's losers included Takeda
Pharmaceutical, which tumbled 8.9 percent after Moody's cut its rating to Baa2 from A2 on its decision to purchase Shire Plc.
Park24
slumped 12.5 percent after the parking lot operator forecast a 7.6 percent drop in its current fiscal year net profit.
Daito Trust
Construction Co bucked the trend and rose 1.3 percent after saying it will buy back 86.8 billion yen ($771 million) of its own shares,
equivalent to 9.4 percent of outstanding stock.
