Toshiba shares tumbled more than 10 percent after the company warning of a 6.2 billion USD writedown in its US nuclear power business, as investors questioned the conglomerate’s corporate governance. / AFP PHOTO / TORU YAMANAKA
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo shares slipped Thursday, though Toshiba jumped after shareholders agreed to the sale of its memory chip unit to cover huge losses stemming from the company’s troubled nuclear business.
Investors had few strong leads with Britain’s formal move to exit the EU on Wednesday already priced into the market, analysts said.
Investors are also taking a cautious approach to US President Donald Trump’s economic policies after a humiliating setback on his healthcare bill, which failed to win the support of his own Republican party.
“Overly optimistic hopes for the Trump administration have faded,” Japanese brokerage Okasan Securities said in a commentary.
Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.80 percent, or 154.26 points, to 19,063.22, while the broader Topix declined 0.94 percent, or 14.48 points, to 1,527.59.
Many institutional investors sat on their hands ahead of the end of Japan’s fiscal year Friday, analysts said.
Toshiba jumped 4.01 percent to 228.2 yen after shareholders approved a motion to spin-off its prized memory chip business, seen as key for the cash-strapped company to turn itself around.
The approval came after it announced its loss-hit US nuclear unit Westinghouse Electric Company has filed for bankruptcy protection.
Toshiba warned Wednesday its annual net loss could balloon to $9 billion as it wrestles with huge amounts of red ink and accounting fraud claims at Westinghouse.
Toyota fell 0.21 percent to 6,111 yen, reversing earlier gains, while rival Nissan lost 2.37 percent to end at 1,087.5 yen.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, one of Japan’s biggest banks, slipped 0.77 percent to 706.8 while mobile carrier SoftBank fell 1.26 percent to 7,932 yen.
The dollar edged up to 111.16 yen from 111.04 yen in New York, but was still well down from levels above 115 yen enjoyed earlier this month.
© Agence France-Presse
