TOKYO, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Japanese shares fell on Thursday as investors struggled to find fresh cues before the new leadership of the country assumes charge, while selling pressure due to a reshuffle of the benchmark Nikkei also weighed on sentiment.
The Nikkei share average slipped 0.45% to 29,412.07 by 0201 GMT, while the broader Topix lost 0.50% to 2,028.00.
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Wednesday appointed former foreign minister Fumio Kishida as its new leader, beating rival Taro Kono, who was known as a promoter of renewable energy. Kishida is set to become the nation's new prime minister.
"Kono was the most favoured candidate, and it was easy identify which shares would benefit from his policy, but it is not so clear to find which stocks would rise under Kishida's leadership," said Hideyuki Suzuki, general manager at investment research for SBI Securities.
"Also, there is a selling pressure of around 500 billion yen ($4.5 billion) worth of shares that is associated with a reshuffle of the Nikkei 225."
Electronic components maker Murata Manufacturing, robot Keyence and game maker Nintendo would be added to the index from next month, replacing Sky Perfect JSAT Holdings, Toyo Seikan Group Holdings and Nisshinbo Holdings.
Sky Perfect fell 0.93% and Toyo Seikan lost 1.9%, while Nisshinbo slipped 1.49%.
Technology heavyweigts led the declines, with Tokyo Electron losing 2.47% and SoftBank Group falling 2.21%.
Renewable energy firm Renova slipped 0.76% and West Holdings lost 3.34%.
Railway operators gained the most among the bourse's 33 industry subindexes, as travel demand is expected to rise after Japan lifts its COVID-19 emergency measures later in the day.
East Japan Railway jumped 3.52%, West Japan Railway advanced 3.52% and Central Japan Railway rose 2.13%.
($1 = 110.7420 yen) (Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
