Tokyo: Nikkei slips from record high as investors weigh Wall Street lull

[TOKYO] Japan’s Nikkei share average slipped from a record high to trade flat on Tuesday, as investors weighed Wall Street’s muted overnight finish, raising concerns that markets have advanced too far, too fast.

As of 0153 GMT, the Nikkei index was flat at 43,722.21, after rising to a record high of 43,876.42 and also falling to as low as 43,411.99 earlier in the session.

The broader Topix also traded flat at 3,121.86 in choppy trading.

“Almost everyone in the market thinks that the market is overheated, so there is a sell-off even from a small negative cue,” GCI Asset Management’s senior portfolio manager Takamasa Ikeda said.

“This time it was the overnight Wall Street. Gains of stocks will be limited until the market confirms the outcome of Jackson Hole meeting.”

Wall Street’s main indexes closed roughly flat on Monday, after struggling for direction, while investors awaited a raft of corporate earnings reports from major retailers for more signs about the state of the economy and the Federal Reserve’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole.

In Japan, SoftBank Group reversed early gains to fall 1.6 per cent, after news that the Japanese technology investor is taking a US$2 billion equity stake in Intel.

SoftBank shares have surged 39 per cent so far this month, far outpacing the Nikkei’s 6.5 per cent gain.

Uniqlo-brand owner Fast Retailing slipped 0.88 per cent.

Investors will closely watch the Fed’s Jackson Hole conference from Aug 21-23, where Chair Jerome Powell is expected to speak. It could offer more clarity on the US economic outlook and the Fed’s policy framework.

Central banks’ policies will be a key for the Nikkei in the coming sessions, as there is an expectation that the Bank of Japan may raise interest rates at its September policy meeting, Ikeda said.

Bucking the trend, chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron rose 1.78 per cent to give the biggest support to the Nikkei. REUTERS