The Japanese stock market is sharply lower for a second straight session on Friday, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 treading below 28,500 levels, driven by continued selloff in technology shares. Investors are worried that rising bond yields in recent days could hurt high-growth companies reliant on easy borrowing. Worries about inflation also weighed on the market.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is declining 578.31 points or 2.00 percent to 28,351.80, after touching a low of 28,310.10 in early trades. Japanese shares closed lower on Thursday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 3 percent, while Fast Retailing is declining nearly 5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 1percent and Toyota is lower by almost 2 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 4 percent and Tokyo Electron is declining nearly 5 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is down 0.8 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.3 percent.
The major exporters are mostly lower, with Mitsubishi Electric declining almost 1 percent, Canon down more than 3 percent and Sony losing more than 2 percent, while Panasonic is edging up 0.4 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Casio Computer is gaining more than 4 percent, while Citizen Watch and Sekisui House are rising more than 3 percent each. Inpex, Maruha Nichiro, AGC, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, Tokyo Electric Power, Mitsui E&S Holdings, Nippon Steel and Teijin are all up nearly 2 percent each.
Conversely, Hitachi Zosen is losing more than 10 percent, Pacific Metals is lower by more than 6 percent, Recruit Holdings is declining almost 6 percent and Sumitomo Reality is down almost 5 percent. Toho Zinc, Z Holdings, Sumco and Tokyo Electron are all losing more than 4 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 107 yen-range on Friday.
In economic news, Foreign Exchange Reserves in Japan decreased to $1,379.4 billion in February from $1,392.10 billion in January of 2021, according to the Ministry of Finance, Japan
On Wall Street, stocks saw substantial volatility during trading on Thursday, with a sell-off seen in early afternoon trading resulting in a sharply lower close for the markets. With the steep drop on the day, the major averages extended the substantial move to the downside seen over the two previous sessions. The Dow and the S&P 500 slumped to their lowest closing levels in a month, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged to a two-month closing low.
The major averages all posted steep losses on the day, although the Nasdaq underperformed its counterparts. The Nasdaq plummeted 274.28 points or 2.1 percent to 12,723.47, while the Dow tumbled 345.95 points or 1.1 percent to 30,924.14 and the S&P 500 dove 51.25 points or 1.3 percent to 3,768.47.
The major European markets also moved to the downside on Thursday. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index dipped by 0.2 percent, while the French CAC 40 Index ended the day nearly unchanged.
Crude oil futures moved sharply higher on Thursday, lifted by an announcement by the OPEC+ would keep production steady for now. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for April ended higher by $2.55 or about 4.2% at $63.83 a barrel, recovering well after early weakness.
Market Analysis
Japanese Market Extends Losing Streak
2021-03-05 02:10:08
