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| - Tokyo stocks closed lower on Wednesday extending losses on Wall Street as health officials warned of the increasing likelihood of a coronavirus pandemic. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 0.79 percent, or 179.22 points, to 22,426.19, while the broader Topix index fell 0.75 percent, or 12.09 points, at 1,606.17. "After seeing sharp falls of US shares overnight, the Nikkei started the session down more than 200 yen," Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary. "It extended losses as other markets in Asia fell. But bargain hunters came in as Chinese shares rebounded," it said. The relative stability of the yen was also seen providing support for the Tokyo market, the brokerage added. The dollar fetched 110.38 yen in early Asian trade, against 110.20 yen in New York on Tuesday. The greenback traded above 112 yen late last week. The yen had trended lower as it was "reasserting its safe (haven) attributes", National Australia Bank strategist Rodrigo Catril said. Among major shares, exporters were broadly lower with Sony dropping 1.57 percent to 7,155 yen, while Toyota trimmed losses to end down 0.38 percent to 7,545 yen. SoftBank Group lost 0.82 percent to 5,415. Camera and office equipment maker Canon jumped 3.58 percent to 2,821.5 yen after a subsidiary announced that it began development of testing systems for the coronavirus. hih/fox
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