Tokyo stocks snap four-day winning streak

Tokyo stocks edged down on Thursday, snapping a four-day winning streak, as investors locked in profits.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 0.13 percent or 29.51 points to close at 22,764.68, while the broader Topix index was down 0.09 percent or 1.62 points at 1,749.59.

"Profit-taking emerged after four days of gains," said Hikaru Sato, senior technical analyst at Daiwa Securities.

"But the decline was limited due to a weak yen and gains in US shares," Sato told AFP.

Wall Street advanced on strong US earnings and upbeat comments by the head of the Federal Reserve.

The dollar held firm on Thursday, changing hands at 112.85 yen against 112.86 yen in New York on Wednesday.

In semi-annual congressional testimony on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said US businesses were already suffering because of reciprocal tariffs on key products following an ongoing trade row between Washington and its economic partners.

However, he repeated that if President Donald Trump's trade policy resulted in lower tariffs, that would be good for the US economy.

Powell also told a congressional panel on Tuesday that the US central bank remained on track to continue gradually raising interest rates amid solid US economic growth.

Investors largely ignored the finance ministry's earlier announcement that Japan logged a trade surplus in June after booking a deficit the previous month.

In Tokyo stocks trading, Toyota lost 0.21 percent to 7,457 yen with Honda down 0.27 percent at 3,323 yen.

Sony fell 0.60 percent to 5,939 yen as Panasonic declined 0.10 percent to 1,450.5 yen.

Air-conditioner makers rallied on growing demand as Japan experiences a heat wave. Mitsubishi Electric jumped 3.55 percent to 1,486.5 yen with Hitachi up 0.73 percent at 798.5 yen.