Roundup: Japan’s Nikkei loses ground for 8 straight days

TOKYO, Oct. 6– Japan’s Nikkei stock benchmark finished lower on Wednesday, with its losing streak lasting for eight days, the first time since July 2009, as sentiment was dampened by the uncertainty of global economic recovery due to increasing oil prices and the prospect of rising inflation in the United States. Japan’s new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s lack of…

TOKYO, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) — Japan’s Nikkei stock benchmark finished lower on Wednesday, with its losing streak lasting for eight days, the first time since July 2009, as sentiment was dampened by the uncertainty of global economic recovery due to increasing oil prices and the prospect of rising inflation in the United States.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average finished down 293.25 points, or 1.05 percent, from Tuesday at 27,528.87, its lowest closing level since Aug. 23.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange ended 5.84 points, or 0.30 percent, lower at 1,941.91.

Declining issues were led by air transportation, marine transportation, and warehousing and harbor transportation service issues.

Tokyo stocks initially moved higher, following overnight gains on Wall Street. But they fell into negative territory later due to concerns over the lack of agreement in the U.S. Congress over the country’s debt ceiling, brokers said.

“The market’s fall comes amid an absence of fresh trading cues, although the ongoing climb in oil prices was a negative factor for the market, as its rise is expected to squeeze corporate profits,” said Koichi Fujishiro, a senior economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute.

Japan’s new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s lack of specific economic policies also added pressure to the market, he said.

Maki Sawada, a strategist at Nomura Securities Co.’s investment content department, said the market may remain downward until external factors surrounding the United States are resolved.

In the First Section, advancers outnumbered decliners 1,073 to 1,015, while 95 finished unchanged.

Marine transportation issues went down on concerns over a slowdown in China’s growth. Shipping firm Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha slipped 5.6 percent, and Nippon Yusen declined 3.9 percent.

Against the downtrend, energy-related shares moved higher after West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures kept to increase and finished at 78.93 U.S. dollars per barrel overnight, the highest close since October 2014.

Inpex jumped 3.5 percent, Idemitsu Kosan surged 5.4 percent, and Cosmo Energy Holdings gained 2.2 percent.

Trading volume on the main section increased to 1,673.82 million shares from Tuesday’s 1,511.32 million shares. Enditem