TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei share average fell on Monday as a stronger yen pressured exporters, while investors awaited signs on the currency’s direction from talks between finance chiefs of Japan and the United States this week.
As of 0211 GMT, the Nikkei was down 1% at 34,385.26. The broader Topix fell 1.02% to 2,533.15.
“Investors bought back stocks as the Nikkei extended losses during the session, but the buy-back did not last long.
But it is not like what happened earlier this month, where any drop in the index drove further sell-offs,“ said Shuutarou Yasuda, a market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory.
“The market was not ready to become a risk-on mode yet.”
The yen rose to a seven-month high against the dollar as shaky confidence in US assets was exacerbated by US President Donald Trump’s attacks on the Federal Reserve.
A stronger Japanese currency tends to hurt shares of exporters, as it decreases the value of overseas profits in yen terms when firms repatriate them to Japan.
Automakers declined, with Toyota Motor and Honda Motor slipping 2.24% and 0.72%, respectively.
Suzuki Motor lost 4%. Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are scheduled to meet this week.
Nikkei notches best week in 3 months
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Sunday that Japan will emphasise “fairness” in any discussions with the US on exchange rates.
Trump has indicated he wants the negotiations to include his accusations that Tokyo intentionally weakens its currency to give its exporters an unfair advantage.
Shares of companies supported by domestic demand rose, with the railway sector rising 0.31% to become the top performer of the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s 33 industry sub-indexes.
The retail sector inched up 0.06%. All but four of the sub-indexes fell.
Nitori Holdings, an operator of home interior goods stores which relies heavily on imports for materials, jumped 3% to provide the biggest support to the Nikkei.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.