Tokyo stocks fall after Hong Kong crash over US, China trade row

The Tokyo Stock Market registered a dropon Tuesdayowing to a crash in Hong Kong stocks as concerns rose over an ongoing trade dispute between China and the United States.

The benchmark index Nikkei 225 dropped 26.39 points or 0.12 per cent to close at 21,785.54 points, while the second indicator Topix, which tracks stocks of the First Section, lost 2.49 per cent or 0.15 per cent and stood at 1,692.80 points.

Tokyo stocks had opened in the green - boosted by good Wall Street results the night before and bargain-hunting investors - after it had slumped by more than 2 per cent, reaching its lowest level in two and a half months,on Sunday.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

The index kept losing ground for the rest of the day, dragged down by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which had fallen 2.73 per cent by mid-session.

The US government, led by President Donald Trump,on Tuesday,recommended that state-owned China Mobile, the world's biggest cell phone carrier, be denied a license to operate in the US, citing national security reasons.

The decision followed ongoing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing after the Trump administration had imposed import tariffs worth billions of dollars on its major trade partners.