Japanese Shares Fall on Tech Selloff
The Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.48% to close at 36,216 while the broader Topix Index lost 0.68% to 2,580 on Monday, settling at their lowest levels in over three weeks, with technology stocks leading the decline.
Japanese shares tracked a sharp selloff on Wall Street on Friday as weak US jobs data raised concerns about the health of the world's largest economy. Meanwhile, final data showed that Japan's economy grew an annualized 2.9% in the second quarter, lower than the advance figure of 3.1% and the consensus forecast of 3.2%.
Still, solid growth, rising wages and persistent inflationary pressures continued to support bets that the Bank of Japan will raise interest rates further. Losses in the technology sector were led by Tokyo Electron (-2.3%), Disco Corp (-3.1%) and Renesas Electronics (-3.1%). Other index heavyweights also posted notable declines including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (-2.3%), Mitsubishi UFJ (-2.3%) and Toyota Motor (-3.2%).
Source : Trading Economics
