Federal Reserve Outlook, Softer Yen Roil Tokyo Stock Market

© MT Newswires Primary Image The Nikkei 225 opened lower Thursday on Wall Street cues, rallied but fell short, finishing off 0.1% as traders weighed a softer yen and prospects for more tightening by the US central bank. A better-than-expected earnings report from Toyota Motor (TM) aided sentiments.

Tokyo investors mulled Wednesday comments from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, who said the central bank will continue to fight inflation.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 22.11 to 27,584.35, although gaining issues outnumbered losers 111 to 107.

Leading the upside were chemical concerns Kuraray (KURRF, 3405:Tokyo), up 6.5%, and Teijin (TINLY, 3401:Tokyo), up 6.4%, and then NTT Data (NTDTY, 9613:Tokyo), up 5.8%.

On the downside were food company MEIJI (MEJHF, 2269:Tokyo), off 4.4%, and then delivery-service Yamato (YATRF, 9064:Tokyo), off 2.6%.

In other news, auto giant Toyota Motor reported a quarterly profit that topped analyst expectations.