Japan’s Nikkei index closed lower in see-saw trade on Tuesday, with technology stocks leading the losses amid caution over the global economic outlook.

The Nikkei share average ended 0.33% lower at 27,279.80, after swinging between small gains and losses.

“Japanese market rose on Monday following U.S. market’s rally late on Friday. But, investors were not aggressive enough to make further bets today,” said Jun Morita, general manager of the research department at Chibagin Asset Management.

The Nikkei had touched its highest in more than a month on Monday after Shanghai announced stimulus measures and a decision to ease a city-wide lockdown.

The broader Topix lost 0.51% to 1,912.67.

Shuji Hosoi, a senior strategist at Daiwa Securities, said ongoing lack of supplies and rising commodity prices was also making investors cautious.

“If China’s economy will reopen, demand will increase, which means rise in energy prices will continue (to rise).”

Tokyo Electron fell 1.29% and was the biggest drag on the Nikkei. Phone company KDDI lost 1.41% and robot maker Fanuc fell 0.99%.

Oil explorers jumped 5.93% and were the top gainers among the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s 33 industry sub-indexes.

Inpex advanced 6.20% and was the top gainer on the Nikkei, followed by auto maker Subaru, which rose 4.45%.
There were 61 advancers on the Nikkei index against 158 decliners.

The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s main board was 2.33 billion, compared to the average of 1.27 billion in the past 30 days.

Reuters