Japanese stocks began to fall on Friday, followed by a sell-off on Wall Street as rising US Treasury yields, inflation and rising fears of a recession continued.
In early trading, the Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.58% (153.51 points) to 26,268.54 and the Topix Index fell 0.43% (8.04 points) to 1,860.76.
“Japanese stocks are likely to continue their downtrend following the previous rally and declines in Western stocks,” SBI Securities said in a statement.
Investors may take a ‘wait-and-see’ stance as Japan’s first half of the fiscal year ends on Friday, brokerages said.
As US government yields continue to rise, the latest data show initial jobless claims have fallen below 200,000 for the first time since May. In early Asian trading, the dollar was at 144.47 yen late Thursday against 144.42 yen in New York.
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said at an Asian Development Bank meeting in Manila on Thursday that Japan was ready to take “appropriate measures” in response to unwanted and rapid speculative currency movements.
Earlier this month, the government implemented a currency intervention to strengthen the yen against the dollar.
Japan’s unemployment rate stood at 2.5% in August, down 0.1% from the previous month, and job openings per 100 job seekers rose from 129 to 132, according to official statistics.
Among the top brands, the Softbank Group dropped 2.04% to 4,928.0 yen, the Sony Group dropped 2% to 9,397 yen, and Toyota dropped 1.99% to 1,999.5 yen. Hitachi dropped 1.77% to 6,231 yen. Hitachi and General Electric will jointly build a next-generation nuclear reactor to address the safety flaws that caused the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident, according to a report released Friday.
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