Japanese Stock Exchanges Close in the Red, Nikkei 225 Down 0.74%
Japanese stocks closed lower on Thursday (April 23rd), with the Nikkei 225 down 0.74% at the end of the Tokyo session. The decline was led by pressure in the Paper & Pulp, Transport, and Communication sectors, which pushed the majority of stocks into the red.
At the stock level, the biggest gainers came from Socionext, which rose 7.09% to 2,002.50, followed by Renesas Electronics, which surged 6.69% to 3,300.00, hitting a 52-week high, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which gained 5.46% to 4,754.00. However, the gains of these large stocks were not enough to offset the broader market pressure.
Meanwhile, Nikon led the sharp decliners, falling 10.36% to 1,695.50, followed by BayCurrent Consulting, which fell 9.73% to 5,416.00, and Konica Minolta, which fell 6.70% to 552.60. Overall, decliners far outnumbered gainers on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, with 2,758 stocks declining, 831 advancing, and 203 unchanged.
In terms of risk sentiment, the Nikkei Volatility Index (an indicator of implied volatility for Nikkei 225 options) fell 0.80% to 29.73, indicating slightly easing volatility despite the index closing negative. In the currency market, USD/JPY rose 0.11% to 159.68 and EUR/JPY gained 0.10% to 186.89, while US Dollar Index Futures edged up 0.07% to 98.48.
In commodities, oil prices strengthened, with WTI rising 1.59% to US$94.44/barrel and Brent rising 1.41% to US$103.35/barrel, while gold futures fell 0.48%. The combination of stronger energy stocks and a slight strengthening dollar/yen has the potential to maintain pressure on some cost-sensitive stocks and defensive assets. Therefore, the market will monitor whether movements in FX (USD/JPY) and energy prices continue and again influence sector rotation in the following session. (asd)
Source: Newsmaker.id
