Japan’s Nikkei fell on Thursday as weak US and Chinese economic data and Sino-US trade frictions soured sentiment, while banks tumbled on weak earnings reports.
The Nikkei share average shed 1.1 per cent to 20,969.69 points by midmorning.
The broader Topix fell 0.8 per cent to 1,531.92, with most cyclical sectors in the red. Domestic-demand sectors such as utility, construction and railway attracted buyers.
Exporters fell, with Fanuc falling 1.3per cent, Murata Manufacturing shedding 2.2 per cent and Advantest Corp tumbling 5.4 per cent.
Mega banks were sold, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group dropping 3.4 per cent to 495.5 yen, the lowest level since November 2016, after the bank reported an 11.8 per cent fall in its net profit for the last fiscal year ended March 2019.
Mizuho Financial Group shed 1.9 per cent to 161.2 yen, the lowest since last December, after its net profit tumbled 83 per cent to 96.6 billion yen for the last fiscal year, though it forecast a net profit of 470 billion yen for this fiscal year, more than four-fold recovery on the year.
Japan Display plunged as much as 11 per cent after it posted a ninth straight quarterly loss. Its net loss for the three months ended March was 98.6 billion yen, versus a 147 billion yen loss a year earlier.
