Japan stocks edge lower on profit booking after trade deal rally

By Stanley White
TOKYO, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks fell on Monday,
slipping from an over one-year high hit in the previous session,
as investors booked profits following an initial rally sparked
by a preliminary trade deal between the United States and China.
The Nikkei index ended down 0.29% at 23,952.35 as the
industrial and materials sectors leading the declines. It is up
20.03% so far for the year.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Sunday said a
so-called "phase one" deal was "totally done", notwithstanding
some needed revisions, adding that it would nearly double U.S.
exports to China over the next two years.
China will purchase the U.S. goods in exchange for the delay
of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods originally scheduled to take
affect on Dec. 15 and the reduction of some existing tariffs,
but officials in Beijing have been vague about the size of these
purchases.
The United States and China had been locked in a 17-month
long trade dispute that became the biggest headwind to global
economic growth. Scaling back the trade war would be a huge
boost to international trade and corporate profits.
"There is some profit taking, but stocks won't fall too far,
because there are a lot of positives in this deal," said Takashi
Hiroki, chief strategist at Monex Securities, Tokyo.
There were 77 advancers on the Nikkei index against 141
decliners on Monday.
The largest percentage losses in the index were Sumitomo
Dainippon Pharma Co Ltd 4506.T down 3.23%, followed drugs
maker by Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd 4568.T losing 3.02% and mobile
game maker Konami Holdings Corp 9766.T down by 2.72%.
The largest percentage gainers in the index were Internet
services firm Z Holdings Corp 4689.T up 3.24%, followed by
marine foods producer Nippon Suisan Kaisha Ltd 1332.T gaining
2.76% and convenience store operator FamilyMart Co Ltd 8028.T
up by 2.21%.
Some investors are still awaiting clarity about the finer
details of the trade deal.
Chinese purchases of agricultural goods are expected to
increase to $40 billion to $50 billion annually over the next
two years, Lighthizer said.
However, when asked specifically about the $50 billion
figure, officials in Beijing said that details on value will be
disclosed later. Lead negotiators are expected to sign the deal during the
first week of January in Washington.
The broader Topix index .TOPX fell 0.18% to 1,736.87.
The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
main board .TOPX was 0.99 billion, compared to the average of
1.24 billion in the past 30 days.