TOKYO: Tokyo stocks fell 0.16 percent Thursday, giving up early gains as earlier buying on robust US growth data and a weaker yen ran out of steam
The Nikkei 225 index dipped 25.46 points to 15,620.77, while the Topix index of all first-section shares was down 0.22 percent, or 2.82 points, at 1,289.42.
Okasan Securities chief strategist Yoshihiro Ito said investors decided to lock in profits in the afternoon as "caution grew after consecutive days of rises".
Shares rallied in the morning, extending four days of gains that took the Nikkei to a six-month high. Sentiment was data from the Commerce Department showing the US economy expanded a forecast-busting 4.0 percent pace in April-June, reversing a sharp contraction in the first quarter.
On currency markets, the dollar fetched 102.78 yen, compared with 102.81 yen late in New York but still well up from the 102.11 yen earlier in Japan. It had surged to 103.09 yen in New York in response to the US data.
A weak yen is positive for Japanese exporters as it inflates their profitability.
Despite the healthy data, Wall Street ended mixed. The Dow slipped 0.19 percent but the Nasdaq added 0.45 percent, while the S&P 500 was marginally higher.
In Tokyo Skymark Airlines, which lost about a quarter of its value over the previous two sessions, slipped another 3.24 percent to 209.0 yen after Airbus said talks over the cancellation of its multi-billion dollar deal with the airline were finished with no room for further negotiation.
Nintendo fell 6.49 percent to 11,520.0 yen after the videogame giant said Wednesday that it logged a $97 million quarterly net loss, with higher costs tied to sales of its Wii U console digging into the bottom line. (AFP)
