Tokyo stocks lower by break after Trump speech

Tokyo - Tokyo shares tumbled on Monday morning with exporters hit by a pick-up in the yen as investors moved into the safe-haven unit owing to uncertainty after Donald Trump kicked off his presidency.

After being sworn in as the 45th president of the United States on Friday, Trump promised to build infrastructure, such as bridges and roads, and boost employment, aspects of his agenda the market likes.

But he also adopted a harsh anti-establishment tone throughout his speech, suggesting a tough line on trade that has worried economists.

He again supplied few concrete details on his plans to ramp up the world's top economy but on Sunday vowed to start renegotiating the North American Free-Trade Agreement during upcoming talks with Mexico and Canada.

"If the market starts to focus more on concerns over Trump's protectionist aspects, the yen is likely to temporarily shift toward strength," Shoji Hirakawa, chief global strategist at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute, told Bloomberg News.

In Tokyo, the dollar was at ¥113.60, sharply down from ¥114.60 in New York late on Friday.

A strong yen is a negative for Japanese exporters because it makes their products less competitive abroad and reduces profits when repatriated.

The benchmark Nikkei stock index fell 203.34 points, to end the morning 18 934.57, while the broader Topix index of all first-section issues lost 16.46 points, to sit at 1 517.00.

Wall Street finished higher Friday although the major indices retreated from session highs after Trump's speech.
In Tokyo on Monday, Sony fell 1.06% to ¥3 435 and Toyota was off ¥1.33 at ¥6 710.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries slipped 1.25% to ¥525.9 on reports that it will delay delivery of a regional jet for the fifth time. It will hold a news briefing later on Monday.

Toshiba jumped 7.82% to ¥266 after Japan's Kyodo News agency reported that camera and copier giant Canon was mulling an investment in the troubled conglomerate's chip business.

Toshiba plunged last week on worries about multi-billion-dollar losses in its US nuclear unit.

Sharp soared 4.04% to ¥309 after its parent company, Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn, confirmed Sunday it is considering a $7.0bn investment to make flat panels in the United States.

Sharp is a major player in that market.

Takata, which lost nearly half their value last week, were untraded on Monday morning again with an overwhelming number of sell orders.

The drop is linked to reports that two rival suitors will propose bankruptcy restructuring for the airbag maker at the centre of the auto industry's biggest safety recall.