INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
TOKYO: Nikkei share average dipped on Friday as escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing over trade and technology firms weighed
on investor appetite.
The Nikkei ended the day 0.16 per cent lower at 21,117.22, posting its third consecutive weekly loss.
US President
Donald Trump said on Thursday US complaints against Huawei Technologies Co Ltd might be resolved within the framework of a US-China trade
deal, while at the same time calling the Chinese telecommunications giant "very dangerous."
"The market mood isn't good
To be sure, there remain hopes that the two countries' relations could suddenly improve, so a lot of investors are taking a wait-and-see
But it is hard to deny the situation is deteriorating," said Masayuki Doshida, a senior market analyst at Rakuten Securities.
Panasonic
dropped 1.8 per cent, a day after the company said it stopped shipments of certain components to Huawei to comply with US regulations,
although its China website said it continued to supply the Chinese company normally.
Camera maker Canon shed 3.4 per cent and Tokyo Electron
retreated 2.4 per cent.
Electronic parts maker Murata Manufacturing crawled back 1 per cent after its fall to a 2-1/2-year low earlier in
the day prompted some bargain-hunting
Still, it is down almost 25 per cent so far this month.
Elsewhere, a tumble in oil prices the previous day hit energy-related shares and
trading houses.
Mitsui Co fell 1.2 per cent, while fellow trading company Marubeni Corp lost 0.9 per cent.
Oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan fell
Petroleum and natural gas developers Inpex and JXTG Holdings dropped 4.7 per cent and 3.7 per cent, respectively.
Oil prices have suffered
their steepest weekly losses so far this year as trade tensions fanned worries about a major downturn in the global economy
Brent crude futures sank nearly 5 per cent on Thursday
The contract last traded at $68.61 per barrel, up 1.2 per cent on the day, trimming a bit of Thursday's steep losses.
The broader Topix
inched up 0.04 per cent to 1,541.21.