Nikkei 225 Off 0.4% on Pandemic, Fed Outlooks

The Nikkei 225 opened evenly on Wednesday but wobbled in trading, finishing down 0.4% as traders weighed record-high COVID-19 infections rates in Japan and awaited after-bell policy decisions by the US Federal Reserve.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 120.01 to 27,011.33, striking a 13-month low as losing issues outnumbered gainers 130 to 89.

Leading the upside on a down day were Suzuki Motor (SZKMF, 7269), up 5.8%, followed by game maker Nintendo (NTDOY, 7974), up 4.4% and then non-ferrous metals manufacturer Dowa (DWMNF, 5714), up 3.5%.

On the downside were oil company Idemitsu Kosan (IDKOF, 5019), off 9.4%, and then drugmaker Shionogi (SGIOF, 4507), off 5.8%.

In other news, Tokyo officials reported a record-high COVID-19 new case tally for the second day in a row with 14,086 infections on Wednesday, following 12,813 cases the day before, reported The Mainichi newspaper.

In economic news, Japan's services producer price index rose 1.1% in December from a year earlier, reported the Bank of Japan. The index measures the price of services in business-to-business transactions.