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| - Tokyo stocks opened slightly lower on Wednesday as investors locked in profits after the key Nikkei index soared nearly five percent in the previous session. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.31 percent, or 70.43 points, at 22,511.78 in early trade, while the broader Topix index fell 0.14 percent, or 2.20 points, to 1,591.25. "Profit-taking selling is dominating the Japanese market after sharp rallies in the previous session," said Okasan Online Securities. Tokyo shares spiked higher in late Tuesday trading following a report the Trump administration was preparing a sizable infrastructure proposal, brokers said. After active buying in the previous session, however, "concerns over a second wave of coronavirus infection are returning," said Okasan's chief strategist Yoshihiro Ito. Just minutes before the opening bell, Japan released data showing the devastating effect of the coronavirus on its trade. Japan booked a deficit of 833.4 billion yen ($7.8 billion) in May, the second straight monthly trade deficit, as both exports and imports dropped sharply, according to the finance ministry statistics. Exports dived 28.3 percent year-on-year, and imports dropped 26.2 percent, reflecting the collapse in world trade amid the virus shutdowns. Investors did not react to the data as market consensus was a 1.03 trillion yen deficit. In Tokyo, major shares were lower across the board, with Honda trading down 2.03 percent at 2,893 yen, Canon off 1.31 percent at 2,253 yen, and construction machine maker Komatsu lower by 2.33 percent at 2,205.5 yen. The dollar fetched 107.25 yen in early Asian trade, against 107.31 yen in New York late Tuesday. On Wall Street, the Dow ended up two percent at 26,289.98. kh/ric/mtp
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