The Japanese stock market is down sharply
01 / 09 / 23
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The Japanese stock market is down sharply on Friday, retreating from gains made in the previous session, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipping below the 32,500 mark, following negative signals from Wall Street during the day amid weakness in most sectors, mainly exporters and index heavyweights. Traders are also remaining cautious ahead of the Bank of Japan meeting later in the day.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index loses 437.15 points, or 1.33%, to 32,454.01 points after hitting a low of 32,342.18 points earlier. Japanese stocks closed significantly higher on Thursday.
Market heavyweights SoftBank Group and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing are losing nearly 2% each. Among automakers, Honda loses nearly 1% and Toyota is down more than 1%.
In the technology sector, Advances loses nearly 2%, while Tokyo Electron rises more than 1% and Screen Holdings is up 0.1%.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are up more than 1% each.
Among major exporters, Sony and Mitsubishi Electric are down nearly 2% each, Canon falls nearly 4%, and Panasonic loses more than 2%. Other major losers include Hino Motors falling more than 10%, Omron down more than 8%, Renesas Electronics down more than 5%, Fujitsu down nearly 5%, M3 down nearly 4%, Seiko Epsom down more than 3%, and Kansai Electric Power, Olympus and Tokyo Electric Power down nearly 3% each.
In contrast, Nisshin Seifun Group is up more than 4%, Fuji Electric is up more than 3%, and Dai-ichi Life Holdings is up nearly 3%.
In economic news, total consumer prices in the Tokyo region of Japan rose 3.2% year-on-year in July, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said Friday. That exceeded expectations for a 2.8% rise and was higher than June's 3.1%. The core consumer price index rose 3.0% year-on-year, exceeding forecasts of 2.9% and down from 3.2% in the previous month.
On Friday, the Bank of Japan will also conclude its monetary policy meeting and then announce its interest rate decision, making it a busy day for economic activity in the Asia-Pacific region. The Bank of Japan is expected to leave the benchmark lending rate unchanged at -0.10%.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower range of 139 yen on Friday.
On Wall Street on Thursday, after a strong upward move early in the session, stocks posted a significant decline during the trading day. The major average indices pulled back far from their best levels of the day and moved into negative territory.
The technology-focused Nasdaq index fell 77.17 points, or 0.6%, to 14,050.11 points, after rising 1.7% in early trading. The S&P 500 index was also down 29.34 points, or 0.6%, to 4,537.41, while the Dow fell 237.40 points, or 0.7%, to 35,282.72, breaking a 13-day winning streak.
Major European markets also moved upward during the day. For instance, France's CAC 40 index rose 2.1%, Germany's DAX rose 1.7% and Britain's FTSE 100 index gained 0.2%.
Crude oil prices rose on Thursday on the prospect of reduced supply in the market due to production cuts by OPEC and its allies. September's futures for West Texas Intermediate crude jumped $1.31, or 1.7%, to $80.09 a barrel.
