TOKYO: Tokyo stocks ended lower on Friday, tracking Wall Street losses after above-forecast US wholesale price inflation and hawkish comments from a Federal Reserve official reignited rate hike fears.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.66 percent, or 183.31 points, to 27,513.13, while the broader Topix index lost 0.46 percent, or 9.16 points, to 1,991.93.
The dollar stood at 134.74 yen, against 133.96 yen in New York late Thursday.
US stocks retreated after data showed the producer price index (PPI) rose 0.7 percent on-month in January, a quicker pace than predicted by analysts.
“No matter how you cut it, inflation was hot,” said Tapas Strickland, head of market economics at National Australia Bank.
“The latest data supports the Fed view of needing to continue to raise rates and hold them there higher for longer,” he added.
Also on Thursday, Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester said there was a case for the US central bank to raise rates further and hold them there for some time.
Nikkei drops on hawkish Fed, weak US stock futures; earnings split market
Tokyo-listed tech firms took a hit after Wall Street investors were “disheartened… following a Fed official’s hawkish comments and better-than-expected PPI results”, IwaiCosmo securities said.
SoftBank Group sank 2.18 percent to 5,764 yen, Sony Group fell 2.38 percent to 11,480 yen and Toyota lost 0.28 percent to 1,907.5 yen.
Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing dipped 0.51 percent to 82,890 yen.
Comments
Comments are closed.