Nikkei slips, investors wary before Jackson Hole event, G7 summit

By Tomo Uetake
TOKYO, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Japanese shares dropped on
Wednesday as renewed worries about a global recession weighed on
risk assets, while the U.S.-China trade war and political
uncertainty in Italy and Britain added to the general air of
caution in markets.
The Nikkei share average .N225 took its cue from Wall
Street's selloff overnight and fell 0.3% to 20,618.57. Trading
remained subdued as key events due later in the week kept many
investors on the sidelines.
In particular, investors are focusing on comments from
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole
symposium on Friday and the Group of Seven (G7) summit, to be
held in southwestern France on Aug 24-26, for any signals of
further support steps to boost economic growth.
In New York, all three major stock indexes retreated on
Tuesday to end a three-day rally, with financial shares leading
the losses. .N/C
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he had to
confront China over trade even if it caused short-term harm to
the U.S. economy because Beijing had been cheating Washington
for decades. Concerns about Italy's political chaos and Britain's
tumultuous exit from the European Union also have made investors
wary. The broader Topix .TOPX shed 0.6% to 1,497.51, with all
but one of Tokyo's 33 subindexes finishing in negative
territory.
A notable mover was benchmark Nikkei's heavyweight SoftBank
Group 9984.T , which slid 2.9% to become the most traded stock
on the main board.
Traders said markets are still assessing the Wall Street
Journal's weekend report of the firm's plan to lend employees up
to $20 billion to invest in its Vision Fund 2.
Rate-sensitive TSE REIT index .TREIT dipped 0.3%, snapping
its eight-day winning streak, but still not far from its 12-year
peak. Elsewhere, convenience store operators sagged after industry
data showed their all-store sales for July dropped 0.6% from the
previous year for the first year-on-year decline in 6-1/2 years.
Seven & i Holdings 3382.T shed 1.6%, while FamilyMart UNY
Holdings 8028.T and Lawson 2651.T were down 1.8% and 0.7%,
respectively.
"There appeared to be some sector rotation by fund managers.
As the trading session proceeded, some buying emerged in sectors
such as technology, auto and machinery," said Yasuo Sakuma,
chief investment officer at Libra Investments.