By Stanley White
TOKYO, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Japan's benchmark Nikkei index
pulled back from its the highest level in more than a year on
Wednesday as conflicting signals from the U.S. government
dampened optimism for a preliminary trade agreement with China.
The Nikkei index ended Wednesday down 0.57% at 22,843.12,
its biggest decline in three weeks.
It was the first downturn for Japanese stocks in eight
trading sessions, after a U.S. administration official told
Reuters on Tuesday that an interim U.S.-China trade agreement
might not be completed in time for signing at an Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation summit in Chile on Nov. 16-17. A delay does not mean the accord is falling apart, the
official said. However, the remarks conflicted with U.S.
President Donald Trump's comments on Monday that he expected to
sign a significant part of the trade deal with China ahead of
schedule. Trump's comments had lifted global stock markets and sent
the Nikkei to its the highest point in more than a year on
Tuesday.
Investors also avoided taking big long positions before a
U.S. Federal Reserve policy decision later on Wednesday and a
Bank of Japan meeting on Thursday.
"Investors are booking some profits, and there are some
position adjustments before the Fed and the BOJ," said Yutaka
Masushima, market analyst at Monex Securities in Tokyo. "Trump
said there was a lot of progress in trade talks, but past
experience shows his comments have betrayed expectations, so
there is some caution."
There were 143 decliners on the Nikkei index against 79
advancers on Wednesday.
The largest percentage losses in the index were electronics
manufacturer NEC Corp 6701.T , down 5.83%, followed by rival
electronics manufacturer Omron Corp 6645.T losing 5.17% and
Kobe Steel Ltd 5406.T down by 4.77%.
Packaged food maker Nisshin Seifun Group Inc 2002.T jumped
8.96%, electronics conglomerate Fujitsu Ltd 6702.T rallied
7.74% and cosmetics maker Shiseido Co Ltd 4911.T rose by
3.98%.
The broader Topix index .TOPX added 0.19% to 1,665.90. It
earlier reached its highest level since Dec. 4, 2018.
The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
main board .TOPX was 1.79 billion, compared with the average
of 1.24 billion in the past 30 days.
(Editing by Shri Navaratnam)