The Nikkei 225 in the Tokyo market widened its gains temporarily in the morning session but gave up ground on profit-taking selling, ending the morning at ¥66,333.53. TOPIX posted a modest gain.
In the morning session, the Nikkei 225 widened its gains after the open, but selling to take profits capped the upside, leaving the index little changed by the midday break. The Nikkei 225 ended the morning at ¥66,333.53, down ¥30.67 from the previous business day, while TOPIX was up 6.79 points at 4,135.38.
The Nikkei 225 temporarily rose to ¥67,034.74 at 10:17 a.m., recovering to a level last seen on 18 August. Market participants suggested that buying aimed at securing dividends may have been entering ahead of the final cum-rights trading day.
By the midday break, issue-wide movements were closely balanced, with 53% of stocks declining and 42% advancing. Sector indexes for metal products and pharmaceuticals fell, while insurance, banking and machinery rose.
At the open, the Nikkei 225 started ¥141.74 higher than the previous business day at ¥66,505.94, with gains in semiconductor stocks lifting the market. Some viewed the fact that the 28th was the final cum-rights trading day as contributing to market activity.