Chip And Shipping Companies Push Japan Shares Lower

Japanese stocks closed lower on Tuesday, September 28, as heavy losses in chip and shipping makers outweighed investors’ hopes of a steady economic growth momentum under new political leadership in the run-up to the ruling party’s election.

The Nikkei index fell 0.19%, to close at 30,183.96 points, after falling as much as 0.78% earlier in the session.

The broader TOPIX index fell 0.29% to 2,081.77 points.

Nikkei has won more than 7% since the start of the month, in the run-up to the Liberal Democratic Party leadership election, which will effectively choose the new prime minister.

The country is preparing to lift the coronavirus emergency in all regions on Thursday amid a decline in COVID-19 cases.

Among the heavyweight chip stocks, Advantest lost 3.57%, Tokyo Electron fell 1.05%, and Shin-Etsu fell 1.47%.

Shipping companies led the decline among 33 sub-indices on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, down 8.61%.