Japanese Stocks Drop as Yen Rise Drags Exporters in Thin Trading
Japanese stocks were down after losing steam in thin afternoon trading with holidays starting, as the rebounding yen weighed on exporters.
Topix Index fell 0.5% to 3,407.37 as of the market close in Tokyo
Out of 1,666 stocks in the index, 518 rose and 1,071 fell, while 77 were unchanged
Nikkei declined 0.1% to 50,344.10
The Nikkei index is above the psychologically key 50,000 level so “there’s no strong reason to buy aggressively,” said Hiroyuki Ueno, a chief strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management. “We’ve slipped into the year-end mode,” with most markets set to go on holiday, he said.
Toyota Motor Corp. contributed the most to the Topix Index decline, decreasing 1.8%. Other car companies declined as the yen followed the won higher as authorities of both Japan and South Korea warned against excessive currency moves.
Korean officials said foreign-exchange markets will soon see the government’s “strong determination,” while Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said earlier in the week that the country has a “free hand” to take bold action against currency moves that aren’t in line with fundamentals.
The yen’s rebound weighed on the autos sector and banks fell on signs long-term bond yields are stabilizing after their sharp increase recently, said Ryoutarou Sawada, a senior analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory.
Source : Bloomberg
