Tokyo stocks end down, but Nikkei up nearly 5%

Tokyo stocks fell on Thursday, the last trading day of 2021, but the benchmark Nikkei index rose nearly 5% year-on-year to its highest annual close since 1989.

The Nikkei 225 fell 0.40%, or 115.17 points, to close at 28,791.71, while the broader Topix index fell 0.33%, or 6.66 points, to close at 1,992.33.

Tokyo Trading will take a break on Friday and Monday, and will resume on Tuesday for the first session of 2022.

Concerns about Omicron still carry weight on the market today,” said Shanichi Yamamoto, a broker at Okasan Securities, citing a variety of highly transmissible corona viruses.

Yamamoto told AFP: “Looking back this year, the Tokyo market has performed modestly in trade, with signs of recovery from the epidemic.