NIKKEI INCHES LOWER AS TRUMP SPEECH, HK’S POLITICAL UNREST BRING ANXIETY

TOKYO- Japanese shares sunk lower on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump’s speech brought disappointment to investors as he disclosed very little information about the trade deal. In line with this, Hong Kong’s political unrest contributed to Nikkei’s underperformance as the city faced increased case of violence.

The Nikkei shares plummeted with 0.85% to 23,319.87, after its 13-month high peak performance of 23, 591 last Friday. The broader Topix suffered with 0.55% to 1,700.33 cutting its six-day high record.

Trump’s intention of signing the trade pact is still unclear as he warned a higher tariff implementation on Chinese goods if China does not cooperate.

“I guess it was his usual tactics but it wasn’t positive,” said Hideyuki Ishiguro, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities. “The market has been overheating so we need a period to cool down a bit too.”

Market analysts said that a correlation is possible after Nikkei’s positive performance in previous months.

Among blue chips, Nissan Motor dropped with 0.5% after the carmaker wrapped its annual prediction to an 11-year low as it released a 70% inactivity in quarterly profit. After the arrest of the company’s former chairman Carlos Ghosn a year ago, the company has an overall 30% decline in value so far.

GM Payment Gateway sunk down with 9.3% after the e-commerce settlement service company’s quarterly earnings and profit guidance failed to hit forecast and market expectations.

Fujifilm soared with 6.3% following its positively-ended quarterly session as it is estimated to have a record-breaking yearly profit.

Other sector’s performance remained firm as investors patronized tech shares with direct impact on economic outlook. Keyence and Murata Manufacturing inched higher with 0.6% and 0.7% respectively.