By Kevin Buckland
TOKYO, April 26 (Reuters) - Japanese shares fell on
Wednesday, pressured by overnight declines on Wall Street, as
worries resurfaced about the health of the banking sector, as
well as a possible U.S. recession.
Investors were also cautious ahead of the domestic earnings
season getting into full swing from Thursday, and new Bank of
Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda's first policy decision on
Friday.
The Nikkei , which had hit an eight-month high at
28,806.69 on Tuesday, retreated 0.71% to end the day at
28,416.47. Of the benchmark's 225 components, 172 fell versus 51
that rose, with two flat.
The broader Topix slumped 0.89% to 2,023.90.
The market consensus is that the BOJ will keep policy
unchanged this week, but investors are still wary of surprises,
like the unexpected doubling of the 10-year bond yield policy
band in December.
More than 100 companies report results on Thursday, with the
tally almost doubling on Friday.
"I think the risks are tilted towards the upside" for
Japanese stocks, Daiwa Securities equity strategist Kenji Abe
said, who predicts no action by the BOJ on Friday.
"I expect some companies to announce share buybacks this
week and in May, and that is likely to push up equities," with
the Nikkei challenging 29,000 in the near term, he said.
Banks led losses among the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
33 industry sectors, slumping 2.05% after First Republic Bank
reported plunging deposits.
Concordia Financial Group was the worst performing
financial stock on the Nikkei, dropping 2.71%.
Mitsubishi Motors Corp dropped 2.57% after
reporting late Tuesday that it would take a one-time charge of
about $78 million related to slowing sales at its China unit.
Away from the Nikkei, space startup ispace Inc fell
by its 20% daily limit after saying overnight that its lunar
lander failed to touch down successfully on the moon's surface.
(Editing by Rashmi Aich; Editing by Varun H K)
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