By Reuters Staff
3 Min Read
TOKYO, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Japan’s Nikkei share average ended lower on the last trading day of the year, retreating from a more than three-decade high hit in the previous session as investors booked profits, but it logged gains for a second straight year.
The benchmark Nikkei share average fell 0.45% to 27,444.17 on Wednesday, after closing at its highest level since Aug. 16, 1990 in the previous session.
The broader Topix slipped 0.8% to 1,804.68, pulling back from its highest level since October 2018 reached on Tuesday.
On the year, the Nikkei was up 16% compared to an 18.2% gain in 2019. It rose nearly 18.4% in the quarter, marking the biggest quarterly gain since the three months ended March 2013.
The Sensex and Nifty surged to record closing highs of 47,746.22 and 13,981.95 respectively.
Domestic stock markets continued to rise for a sixth straight day on Wednesday tracking record highs in Asian equities, as optimism around a fast economic recovery from the coronavirus-caused slowdown boosted investor sentiment. The S&P BSE Sensex index gained 194.77 points to touch an all-time high of 47,807.85, and the broader NSE Nifty 50 benchmark added 109.7 points to an all-time high of 13,982.90, during the session. Gains in automobile and metal shares supported the markets. (Track Sensex, Nifty Here)
The Sensex ended 133.14 points, or 0.28 per cent, higher at 47,746.22, and the Nifty settled at 13,981.95, up 49.35 points, or 0.35 per cent, from its previous close both record closing highs.
Wall Street ended the session in positive territory and the dollar dipped to its lowest in more than two years on Wednesday, the penultimate trading day in a remarkable year of pandemic, recession and recovery.