The Japanese market is trading sharply lower on Friday, extending the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 61,950 level, with weakness in across most sectors led by technology and financial stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 962.98 points or 1.53 percent to 61,944.86, after hitting a low of 61,462.61 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Thursday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is declining almost 6 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining almost 3 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging down 0.3 percent and Honda is also edging down 0.4 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 3 percent, Tokyo Electron is declining more than 3 percent and Screen Holdings is slipping more than 4 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are declining more than 5 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is slipping more than 6 percent.
Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is tumbling almost 6 percent, Panasonic is slipping more than 5 percent and Canon is edging down 0.1 percent, while Sony is edging up 0.3 percent.
Among other major losers, Resona Holdings is tumbling more than 6 percent, while Mitsui Kinzoku, Sumco, Taiyo Yuden and Hitachi are slipping more than 5 percent each. Murata Manufacturing, Chiba Bank, JX Advanced Metals, Yokohama Financial, Kokusai Electric, Fukuoka Financial, Omron and Sumitomo Metal Mining are all declining almost 5 percent each.
Conversely, Sapporo Holdings is surging more than 5 percent and ZOZO is advancing almost 4 percent, while Kikkoman, Aeon, Olympus and Chugai Pharmaceutical are gaining more than 3 percent each.
In economic news, overall consumer prices in Japan were up 2.1 percent on year in September, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday – in line with expectations and up from 1.9 percent in August. On a monthly basis, inflation was flat after rising 0.1 percent in August. Core CPI also was up 2.1 percent on year, matching forecasts and up from 1.7 percent in the previous month.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 156 yen-range on Friday.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a substantial move back to the downside during trading on Thursday after trending higher over the past few sessions. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way lower, tumbling to its lowest closing level in over a month.
The Nasdaq and S&P 500 ended the day just off their lows of the session. The Nasdaq plunged 694.00 points or 2.6 percent to 26,008.86 and the S&P 500 slumped 93.74 points or 1.2 percent to 7,663.43. The narrower Dow closed up 11.89 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 52,867.98.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index tumbled 1.4 percent and the German DAX Index slid by 1.1 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index posted a more modest loss, dipping by 0.3 percent.
Crude oil prices surged on Thursday on rising concerns of long-term supply disruptions following reports that the U.S. and Israel are planning a joint military operation against Iran after the U.S. midterm elections in November. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $2.19 or 2.25 percent at $99.34 per barrel.
Market Analysis
Japanese Market Sharply Lower
2026-10-23 01:38:52
