Tokyo stocks traded within a narrow range Monday after recent gains in Japanese markets and with US tech share prices softening.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index opened lower but quickly emerged above water and was trending up 0.15 percent, or 42.77 points, at 28,218.64, while the broader Topix index trimmed losses and was off 0.06 percent, or 1.16 points, at 1,946.01.
The dollar bought 135.39 yen, up from 135.00 yen on Friday in New York.
The Nikkei was vulnerable to selling pressure after last week’s gains and US tech losses, analysts said.
“A sense of caution is expected to remain as investors await the release of major US economic indicators,” such as consumer prices, Okasan Online Securities said.
But a cheaper yen should still provide support for the Tokyo market, as investors gauge whether the Nikkei can remain above the 28,000 mark, Okasan added.
Global investors are also focused on US consumer prices data, due Wednesday, to help predict moves by the Federal Reserve.
“Back-to-back storming inflation prints will likely lead to complete repricing of the September Fed meeting and, ultimately, where the Fed ends up,” said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.
Markets expect the US central bank to raise rates by another 100 points over the next three meetings through December, he said.
In Tokyo, Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing rose 0.89 percent to 84,340 yen. Canon jumped 3.29 percent to 3,327 yen.
Toyota fell 1.46 percent to 2,092 yen. Sony Group lost 0.77 percent to 11,595 yen.
Advantest, a major producer of testing kits for semiconductors, fell 0.23 percent to 8,680 yen. Nintendo slipped 1.48 percent to 57,850 yen.
SoftBank Group, which will release earnings later in the day, reversed earlier losses and was up 0.25 percent at 5,667 yen.—APP
