Tokyo shares close lower on China worries

Tokyo shares closed lower Wednesday on worries over the Chinese economy, with falls on US markets also affecting sentiment.The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gave up 1.46 percent, or 472.07 points, to 31,766.82, while the broader Topix index fell 1.29 percent, or 29.47 points, to 2,260.84.The dollar stood at 145.48 yen, nearly flat from 145.57 yen in New York."Shares related to energy, natural resources, banking, trading houses and steelmaking are among losers today," said Chihiro Ota of SMBC Nikko Securities."In other words, once investors view the Chinese economy with suspicion, markets for commodities and natural resources sour," Ota said.Among worries are the financial troubles of a major Chinese property developer as well as Chinese trust firms missing payments on their products.Stronger-than-expected US retail data has also rekindled speculation about US rate hikes, Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management wrote in a note."While a healthy consumer is often perceived as a good thing by markets," Innes wrote, "the surprising retail strength could raise questions about how far along the Fed is in its fight against inflation, as such high demand might suggest there is still room to go on the rates front."In the Tokyo market, banking shares faced selling as uncertainty over the US financial sector drove down banking stocks on Wall Street.Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group fell 2.91 percent to 1,088.5 yen. Its rival Mizuho Financial Group lost 2.12 percent to 2,262 yen while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group fell 1.56 percent to 6,301 yen.Nippon Steel slipped 2.60 percent to 3,320 yen. Energy developer INPEX lost 2.25 percent to 1,979.5 yen.Top trading house Mitsubishi Corp. shed 3.19 percent to 6,941 yen.Heavily weighted Fast Retailing, which operates the Uniqlo brand, retreated 1.87 percent to 33,520 yen. High-tech investor SoftBank Group gave up 3.13 percent to 6,466 yen.