At closing bell, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average declined 156.16 points, or 0.67%, to 23,319.37. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was down 5.95 points, or 0.36%, to 1,638.40.
Total 23 issues of the 33 industry category of Topix index ended into red territory, with Land Transportation, Air Transportation, Nonferrous Metals, Iron & Steel, Transportation Equipment, Rubber Products, and Glass & Ceramics Products issues being notable losers, while Warehousing & Harbor Transportation Services, Textiles & Apparels, Marine Transportation, and Retail Trade issues were notable gainers.
The Bank of Japan (BoJ) said it would maintain its ultra-loose monetary policy as the virus-hit economy gradually picks up. BoJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda was due to speak after market close on Thursday, one day after new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga took office and picked his cabinet.
Sony Corp shares declined 1% after it said its PlayStation 5 game console will launch in November with a price tag of $500 for the premium PS5, and $400 for a "digital edition" for games downloaded from the cloud. Sony's rival Nintendo was down 1.4% after its president said the company plans to release new Switch games while extending the console's life cycle.
ECONOMIC NEWS: Japan Central Bank Maintains Monetary Policy Unchanged- Japan's central bank policy board voted 8-1 to retain the interest rate at -0.1 percent on current accounts that financial institutions maintain at the central bank. The bank will continue to purchase necessary amount of Japanese government bonds without setting an upper limit so that 10-year JGB yields will remain at around zero percent. The bank will actively buy exchange-traded funds and Japan real estate investment trusts so that their outstanding amounts will increase at annual paces with the upper limit of about JPY 12 trillion and around JPY 180 billion, respectively.
CURRENCY: The dollar was traded at 104.99 yen in Asian trade, against 104.92 yen in New York and 105.34 yen in Tokyo late Wednesday.
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