TOKYO: Tokyo stocks closed 0.67 percent lower Tuesday as the dollar's rise against the yen fizzled, but Fujifilm jumped to a six-year high on hopes for the company's Ebola drug.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange lost 107.12 points to finish at 15,783.83, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares fell 0.43 percent, or 5.51 points, to 1,290.89.
Fujifilm rose 2.72 percent to 3,595.0 yen on hopes that its drug Avigan could offer a cure for the deadly Ebola epidemic that has killed thousands in western Africa.
The treatment is among several drugs used experimentally for the disease that has no licensed treatment or vaccine.
Fujifilm said a French nurse infected with Ebola and treated with a combination of Avigan and other unapproved drugs had recovered.
In early trading, the Nikkei rose into positive territory on a weaker yen after the head of the Bank of Japan said a softer currency was a plus for the economy.
Share prices then turned down, as the yen roared back after the Bank of Japan held off launching fresh easing measures.
A strong yen hurts Japanese exporters as it makes them less competitive abroad and erodes their repatriated profits.
In forex markets, the dollar fetched 108.57 yen, well down from the day's high of 109.22 yen and 108.75 yen in New York on Monday.
In Tokyo share trading, Toshiba tumbled 4.32 percent to 475.6 yen after South Korean rival Samsung said it would build a new chip factory in the suburbs of Seoul, investing $14.6 billion.
"The scale of Samsung's investment strikes (me) as a surprise," said Toyo Securities analyst Tomohisa Nonomura.
"Toshiba is armed to fight a mass production battle with Samsung in the memory space, but may lose customers in the process."
Panasonic slipped 0.03 percent to 1,276.0 yen after its president said the electronics giant would invest "tens of billions" of yen in US electric vehicle maker Tesla Motors' huge lithium ion battery plant, the Gigafactory.
The deal had previously been announced, but Panasonic had declined to confirm financial details.
Japanese media earlier reported that Panasonic would invest as much as 30 billion yen in the plant. (AFP)
