Japan Shares Closed Lower as Investors Booked Profits

Japanese stocks reversed their direction to close lower on Tuesday, March 2nd as investors booked profits following the strong rally in indices before the end of the fiscal year this month.

Investors close their books at the end of the financial year on the last day of March, and many market participants are looking to reap profits from the Nikkei’s 87% rise in the past year, to its highest level in more than three decades.

The Nikkei index closed down 0.86% to 29,408.17 points, while the broader Topix index fell 0.4% to 1894.85 points. The two indices gained more than 2% yesterday.