Tokyo investors eye geopolitical tensions next week

TOKYO, July 18 (AFP): Tokyo investors will be keeping an eye on simmering geopolitical tensions next week in the aftermath of a Malaysia Airlines jet crash in violence-wracked Ukraine.
Fresh economic data, including Japanese trade figures for June, will also be on investors' radar screens after the Japanese government raised its view of the economy for the first time in six months this week.
On Friday, Tokyo stocks closed 1.01 per cent lower as the crash of a Malaysia Airlines plane in rebel-held eastern Ukraine sent jitters through the market, with shares of major Japanese carriers falling.
The headline Nikkei-225 index lost 154.55 points to finish at 15,215.71 on Friday. Over the week, the index gained 0.34 per cent.
The broader Topix index of all first-section shares fell 0.79 per cent, or 10.09 points, to 1,263.29. It rose 0.65 per cent over the week.
The Nikkei's losses were triggered by the crash, said Hirokazu Kabeya, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities. He added that business was also hit by soft buying sentiment ahead of a three-day weekend in Japan.
MH17 was carrying 298 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed, with US officials saying it was shot down.
The plane was lost in eastern Ukraine where government forces are engaged in a fierce battle to quell a rebellion by pro-Russian insurgents.
The downing added further tragedy to bristling tensions between Western nations and Russia over the issue of separatists in the eastern European nation.
Separately, Israel launched a ground invasion of Gaza, sending thousands of troops into the Palestinian territory.
"Everyone was compelled to think about the geopolitical risks they had forgotten about for a while," Hiromichi Tamura, chief strategist for Japan at Nomura Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.