Japanese Stocks Fall Ahead of Election
The Nikkei 225 index fell 0.8% to below 37,900 while the broader Topix index fell 0.8% to 2,615 on Friday, with both benchmarks set for sharp weekly losses as investors braced for Japan’s general election later this week in which the coalition government could lose its majority in parliament. The market is also bracing for a raft of corporate earnings with releases set to accelerate in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, data showed Tokyo’s core inflation, a leading indicator of national price trends, slowed to a six-month low of 1.8% in October, below the Bank of Japan’s 2% target. Significant losses were seen in blue-chip stocks such as Advantest (-2.7%), Canon Inc (-3.3%) and Mitsubishi UFJ (-1.3%). The recently announced Tokyo Metro IPO also fell 5.5% after dropping 2.1% in the previous session. The Nikkei and Topix are expected to fall about 3% this week, their second straight weekly decline.
Source: Trading Economics
