Japanese Stocks Decline as Banks Lead Losses on Credit Risk Woes
Japanese stocks slipped, led by the financial sector, as investors were rattled by the revelation of loan problems at two US regional banks which heightened concerns about the credit market.
Topix Index fell 1% to 3,170.44 as of market close Tokyo time
Out of 1,672 stocks in the index, 446 rose and 1,169 fell, while 57 were unchanged.
Nikkei declined 1.4% to 47,582.15, set for its first weekly loss in eight weeks
“Rather than being about a specific sector, it feels like we’re seeing some limited risk-off sentiment,” said Tetsuo Seshimo, a portfolio manager at Saison Asset Management. “Small incidents can sometimes be the trigger for bigger problems. So I think there’s a bit of caution in the market, hence this mild risk-off tone.”
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. contributed the most to the Topix Index decline, decreasing 3%.
“Japan’s bank shares are coming under pressure today and these macro concerns in the US could weigh on the megabanks in our market where we have retained SMFG in our shorts mainly on the back of BOJ dragging its heels to normalise,” said Amir Anvarzadeh a Japan equity strategist at Asymmetric Advisors. (asd)
Source: Newsmaker.id
