Tokyo shares close slightly higher

Tokyo shares closed marginally higher on Tuesday after being dragged down by worries about the Chinese economy amid trade tensions with the United States.

The Nikkei 225 index edged up 0.08 percent, or 15.64 points, to end at 20,664.64 while the broader Topix index was up 0.10 percent, or 1.58 points, at 1,557.09.

Wall Street started the week lower on disappointing earnings reports by Caterpillar and tech firm Nvidia that underscored worries about slowing Chinese growth.

“The week has begun with a broad risk-off tone,” said Rodrigo Catril, senior markets strategist at National Australia Bank.

“Caterpillar and Nvidia are not the first companies to blame China for their afflictions, but both companies are seen as industry bellwethers and their disappointing results provide further evidence that this time China’s slowdown is for real,” he said in a note.

In Tokyo, “investors bought back shares after a round of selling,” Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities, said in a commentary.

This week’s calendar includes the resumption of closely watched US-China trade talks in Washington following a series of tariff announcements and tit-for-tat measures by the two countries against each other.

Economists say that and other trade battles are weighing on global growth, especially in China.

In a move likely to ratchet up tensions between the two powers, the US Justice Department on Monday unveiled sweeping charges against Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei in two cases.

In Tuesday Tokyo trade, industrial machinery maker Komatsu tumbled 4.55 percent to 2,711.5 yen and factory robot maker Fanuc fell 2.83 percent to 18,145 yen.

SoftBank Group, which has invested in Nvidia through its tech fund, gained 1.53 percent to 8,200 yen.

The dollar was trading at 109.29 yen against 109.38 yen in New York Monday afternoon.