Japan’s Nikkei ends at near 1-month low amid economic worries

TOKYO, Dec 8 (Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei index closed at near one-month low Thursday, weighed down by Wall Street’s weak finish on economic concerns as well as corporate earnings.

The Nikkei share average fell 0.4% to close at 27,574.43, its lowest close since Nov. 10.

The broader Topix slipped 0.35% to 1,941.50.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed lower overnight after a choppy session on Wall Street, as investors struggled to grasp a clear direction as they weighed how the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy tightening might feed through into corporate America.

“Investors were worried about global economic and corporate outlook, following comments from Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan executives,” Maki Sawada, strategist at Nomura Securities told at a media briefing on the market.

Downbeat comments from top executives at the biggest U.S banks rattled the market, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Bank of America Corp. (BAC) saying a mild to more pronounced recession was likely ahead.

In Japan, chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron lost 0.94%, game and audio equipment maker Sony Group fell 1.93% and robot maker Fanuc slipped 0.6%.

Motor maker Nidec lost 2.89% to become the worst performer on the Nikkei. Toy maker Konami Holdings Group 9766.T slipped 2.7%.

SoftBank Group jumped 2.15% and provided the biggest support to the Nikkei after a report that its billionaire chairman and CEO, Masayoshi Son, has raised his stake in the firm to 34%, taking him closer to a buyout of the conglomerate.

(Reporting by Junko Fujita; editing by Uttaresh.V)