Home ›› 23 Apr 2022 ›› Stock
Tokyo stocks dropped on Friday, extending losses on Wall Street following hawkish comments from the Federal Reserve about its monetary tightening plans.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 1.63 per cent, or 447.80 points, to 27,105.26 while the broader Topix index fell 1.19 per cent, or 22.85 points, to 1,905.15.
"Rises in US long-term yields made investors wary. Selling affected a wide range of shares", particularly of companies with high growth potential, Okasan Online Securities said.
"Some market players bought as the Nikkei dipped below the 27,000 level, but momentum for a rebound stayed weak," the brokerage added.
Many investors refrained from making major bets before Japan's corporate earnings season kicks off next week, it said. The dollar bought 127.85 yen, slipping from 128.66 yen seen earlier Friday.
During afternoon trade, Japanese broadcaster TBS reported that Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen may have discussed an intervention to address the falling yen, citing anonymous sources.
Suzuki told reporters after his talks with Yellen that the pair discussed foreign exchange and other economic indicators, but that he had not "expressed concern" over the currency's falls.
Panasonic lost 0.82 per cent to 1,155.0 and Honda gave up 1.60 per cent to 3,379 yen. Nissan slipped 1.74 per cent to 536.9 and Toyota lost 1.78 per cent to 2,210.0.
Sony Group plunged 2.76 per cent to 11,280 yen. SoftBank Group fell 3.01 per cent to 5,411 yen, and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing lost 2.70 per cent to 64,460 yen.
Air carrier ANA Holdings rose 0.54 per cent to 2,495.0 yen. After market close, the aviation company downgraded its annual forecasts and said it expects to see a net loss of 145 billion yen, compared with an earlier estimate for a loss of 100 billion yen.
