Tokyo's Nikkei index closes lower

Tokyo's key Nikkei index closed lower Thursday following falls on Wall Street, after US Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell warned of further interest rate hikes.

The Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.92 percent, or 310.26 points, to 33,264.88, while the broader Topix index inched up 0.06 percent, or 1.49 points, to end at 2,296.50.

Powell's suggestion of a fresh rate hike saw all US indices drop, "a trend which prompted profit-taking sell orders" in Tokyo markets, Iwai Cosmo Securities said in a note.


Overnight, Powell told lawmakers that although progress has been made, inflation remains "well above" the Fed's target of two percent.

"Given how far we've come, it may make sense to move rates higher but to do so at a more moderate pace," he said.

The dollar fetched 141.85 yen in Asia, against 141.87 yen in New York.

Chip-linked shares were among the losers in Tokyo, with chip-testing equipment maker Advantest diving 6.86 percent to 18,530 yen, and chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron dropping 4.57 percent to 19,620 yen.

Square Enix Holdings sank 3.64 percent to 7,192 yen after recent rallies on the release of the latest title in the hugely popular Final Fantasy video game series.

SoftBank Group fell 2.16 percent to 6,787 yen.

Toyota ended up 0.99 percent at 2,240.5 yen, airline ANA Holdings gained 0.69 percent to 3,343 yen and Panasonic added 2.25 percent to 1,706 yen.