Nikkei drops back from three week high

The Nikkei has fallen away from a new three-week high by losing ground in the first session of the week today (February 24th).

It lost 0.2 per cent of its value over the course of the session, ending the day at 14,837.68. This erased some of the gains the Nikkei had piled up at the end of the week, when it surged 2.9 per cent on Friday.

It had been a choppy session of trade for the index, which was up by as much as 0.8 per cent at one point in the day, but also down by 1.4 per cent at another stage of trading.

The Nikkei hit its highest level since January 31st but lost ground later in the day to start the week with a small loss overall, reports Reuters.

The broader Topix index was down as well and it recorded one of the lowest volumes of the year so far. In today's session, it fell 0.3 per cent to 1,219.07 and 2.32 billion shares changed hands.

Upcoming signs

A lot of investors hung back from making a move in the index over the course of the new week's opening session as they awaited new signs over the direction of the Japanese economy.

Some of the Asian nation's largest companies are expected to release their latest financial results later in the week, which could have a major impact on the state of the Nikkei.

There was also a small loss for the JPX-Nikkei Index 400, which dropped 0.3 per cent to 11,030.48. It was launched earlier in the year and is made up of firms with a high return on equity, as well as strong corporate governance.

A firmer yen and weaker Asian markets across the board also led to a lot of profit-taking among investors who became wary after the Nikkei grew to a new three-week high during the session.

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