Tokyo's Nikkei Index Falls 3% Ahead of US Tariffs
Tokyo's key Nikkei index fell three percent in early trade on Monday, ahead of the imposition this week of tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index shed 3.02 percent, or 1,122.77 points, to 35,997.56, while the broader Topix index was down 2.86 percent, or 78.85 points, to 2,678.40.
Wednesday marks the start of levies on a range of US imports including cars, trucks, and auto parts, along with a raft of tariffs tailored to different countries.
Japan is home to the world's top-selling carmaker, Toyota, and the auto industry as a whole impacts many sectors, from parts manufacturing to steel and microchips.
Vehicles accounted for roughly a third of the country's 21.3 trillion yen ($145 billion) of US-bound exports in 2024.
In morning trading, Toyota fell 3.72 percent to 2,600 yen, Honda lost 3.65 percent to 1,334.5 yen, and Nissan lost 4.26 percent to 377.8 yen.
Investors fear that Trump's plans will trigger tit-for-tat measures that would rekindle inflation, which could put the brakes on US interest rate cuts and spark a recession.
The dollar bought 149.38 yen in Tokyo, compared with 149.72 yen on Friday in New York.
Elsewhere in the region, Seoul's KOSPI index was down 2.5 percent, while Taipei lost 1.6 percent and Sydney was off 1.4 percent.
In Tokyo, major semiconductor shares were also hit hard. Tokyo Electron plunged 5.88 percent to 20,260 yen, and Advantest fell 6.44 percent to 6,557 yen.
Shares in Zensho Holdings, which owns several Japanese restaurant franchises, plunged five percent after its beef bowl chain Sukiya said it would temporarily shut nearly all of its roughly 2,000 branches after a rat was found in a miso soup and a bug in another meal.
Source: AFP
