Home ›› 16 Apr 2022 ›› Stock
Tokyo stocks closed lower on Friday as investors sold chip-related stocks, after losses on Wall Street over concerns about higher interest rates.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index slid 0.29 per cent, or 78.81 points, to end at 27,093.19, while the broader Topix index lost 0.62 per cent, or 11.74 points, to 1,896.31.
“The Nikkei index opened lower following losses on the three US major indexes. A wide variety of shares, especially chip-related ones, were sold,” Okasan Online Securities said in a note.
On Wall Street, tech shares dived as worries persisted over higher interest rates.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note surged above 2.8 per cent, resuming an upward climb after Wednesday’s pullback helped boost stocks.
Treasury yields are seen as a proxy for interest rates.
The dollar fetched 126.49 yen, up from 125.87 yen in New York late Thursday. It was a new 20-year low for the currency, after it breached the 126-mark earlier this week for the first time since 2002.
In Tokyo trading, chip-related shares were lower with chip-testing equipment maker Advantest dropping 4.03 per cent to 8,320 yen and Tokyo Electron, a major producer of tools to build semiconductors, tumbling 4.99 per cent to
53,880 yen.
Sony Group lost 2.52 per cent to 11,215 yen while SoftBank Group fell 1.21 per cent to 5,692 yen.
Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing soared 8.83 per cent to 64,810 yen, a day after the firm revised its annual net profit forecast upwards.
Japan Airlines gave up 2.06 per cent to 2,226 yen.
After the closing bell, the company said it had revised its projected full-year net loss to 177 billion yen ($1.4 billion) from an earlier forecast of 146 billion yen, citing continued weakness in demand because of the pandemic.
