Tokyo stocks close slightly higher, gains capped by Abe shooting

Tokyo, July 8

Tokyo stocks closed fractionally higher on Friday after early gains made on eased concerns over the US Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hikes were largely erased by the news of the gun attack on ex-prime minister Shinzo Abe.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average edged up 26.66 points, or 0.10 per cent, from Thursday to close the day at 26,517.19, Xinhua news agency reported.

The broader Topix index, meanwhile, gained 5.10 points, or 0.27 per cent, to finish at 1,887.43.

Brokers here said the market mood was severely dented following news of Abe's shooting in the western city of Nara on Friday morning during a stump speech.

Abe, who was shot twice, was rushed to a hospital in Nara and was showing "no vital signs" of life.

His suspected assailant, a former worker for the Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF), who was arrested on the spot for attempted murder, is believed to have wanted to kill the former Japanese leader, telling police he tried to kill Abe because he was "dissatisfied" with him.

"There was speculation that the influence of Abe, who has promoted large-scale monetary easing, would weaken, leading to a firmer yen versus the dollar," a local dealer was quoted as saying.

Other market analysts said shares were dumped owing to the shocking news, which also saw the yen spike.

"Investors offloaded shares after the shocking reports, in tandem with a sudden strengthening of the yen," Kazuo Kamitani, a strategist in the Investment Content Department of Nomura Securities Co., was quoted as saying.

By the close of play, marine transportation, mining, and nonferrous metal issues comprised those that gained the most, and issues that rose outpaced those that fell by 903 to 868, while 67 ended the day unchanged.

On the Prime Market on Friday, 1,466.87 million shares changed hands, rising from Thursday's volume of 1,278.95 million shares.

The turnover on the final trading day of the week came to 3,602.23 billion yen (26.52 billion U.S. dollars)