Japan’s Nikkei ends lower after weak US jobs data; stronger yen weighs

TOKYO, June 5 (Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei share average
ended lower on Wednesday as economic-sensitive stocks fell after
weaker-than-expected U.S. labour market data, while the yen’s
rebound hurt sentiment.

The Nikkei fell 0.89% to close at 38,490.17.

“Wall Street rose overnight after the labour market data
helped U.S. Treasury yields to fall,” said Shoichi Arisawa,
general manager of the investment research department at
IwaiCosmo Securities.

“But the yen rose, which was negative for Japanese equities.
The positive impact of falling Japanese government bond yields
was limited in the current session.”

Wall Street ended higher after data showed that U.S. job
openings fell to their lowest level in more than three years in
April, signalling an easing in labour market tightness that
supported a rate cut by the Federal Reserve this year.

U.S. Treasury yields slipped following the report. Japanese
government bond (JGB) yields tracked the declines, with the
10-year bond yield falling below 1% for the first
time since May 24.

The yen rose to a three-week peak against the dollar
overnight before retracing some of the overnight gains, driven
by investors unwinding bets in emerging markets in Asia trade.

Shipping companies lost 2.86% and energy
explorers fell 2.95%. Steel companies lost
also lost 2.05%.

The insurance sector fell 3.73%, the most among
the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s 33 industry sub-indexes.

SoftBank Group jumped 4.64% after the Financial
Times reported Elliott Management has rebuilt a stake worth over
$2 billion in the technology investor.

The broader Topix lost 1.41% to 2,748.22, with
Toyota Motor slipping 2.43% to become the biggest drag
on the Topix.

(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Varun H K and Sohini
Goswami)