TOKYO, March 2 (Reuters) – Japanese stocks returned the course to a lower close on Tuesday, as some investors rallied on the sharp collection of indices before the end of the fiscal year. this month.
Investors will close their books as the fiscal year ends on the last day of March and many market participants are looking to retain profits from an 87% Nikkei rally in the year gone which led him to more than three decades high.
The Nikkei 225 Index finished 0.86% lower at 29,408.17, while the Topix overall fell 0.4% to 1,894.85. Both the Nikkei benchmark and the Topix had gained more than 2% on Monday.
“I don’t expect stocks to go into recession, but we have risen so far that it will take at least a month for the markets to consolidate,” said Kiyoshi Ishigane, chief asset manager at Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co.
“The Nikkei could move on all sides this month as it is right before the end of the fiscal year, but it is possible that markets will break out next month. ”
Among individual shares, Z Holdings Corp fell 4.82%, making it the biggest loser on the Nikkei index even as the SoftBank subsidiary outlined plans to invest 500 billion yen ($ 4.7 billion) in technology over five years.
Shipbuilder Mitsui E&S Holdings, down 4.09%, was the second loser on the index, followed by NTT Data, which fell 3.87%.
Maritime and air transport sectors were the biggest losers among the region’s 33 sub-indices on the Tokyo exchange. ANA Holdings fell 2.13% and Japan Airlines lost 3.48%.
The largest percentage winners on the index were Hitachi Zosen Corp, which rose 4.85%, followed by Haseko gaining 3.58% and Nexon adding 3.12%.
The Nikkei index had 60 promoters against 161 rejections. (Reciting with Stanley White and Junko Fujita)