Tokyo stocks end lower

Tokyo stocks ended lower on Wednesday, erasing earlier gains, with the market retreating from previous rallies over the US midterm elections.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.56 per cent, or 155.68 points, to end at 27,716.43, while the broader Topix index lost 0.41 per cent, or 8.07 points, to 1,949.49. The dollar stood at 145.83 yen, against 145.58 yen in New York late Tuesday.

The Tokyo market started trade higher, extending Wall Street gains, with investors encouraged to buy on hopes for a US midterm scenario that could lessen the risk of policy uncertainty.

Polls suggested Republicans would likely win at least one house of the legislature -- and some see the prospect of split control in Washington as pointing to a more austere fiscal policy that could help curb inflation. That’s why stocks tended to rise until yesterday, Seiichi Suzuki, chief equity market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute, told AFP.