TOKYO

STOCKS closed down 0.55%, as profit taking on recent gains and concerns over China’s slowing economic growth weighed on the benchmark index.

The Nikkei 225 Index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange lost 55.50 points to 10,086.49. The Topix Index of all first-section issues fell 1.10% or 9.57 points, to 858.78. The Tokyo market was closed Tuesday for a national holiday.

China is Japan’s largest trading partner, with Japanese firms directly affected by slowing demand in the world’s second-biggest economy.

The Japanese market also succumbed to profit-taking, while a dip in other Asian markets knocked investor sentiment, said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of equity division at SMBC Nikko Securities.

Sony fell 4.46% to ¥1,733 after Goldman Sachs downgraded its shares to a Sell rating from Neutral. - AFP