January 21, 2025

Tokyo Stocks: Tokyo shares fall on Middle East worries

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TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened lower on Monday on investors’ fears that the Middle East crisis may deteriorate further.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.47 percent, or 146.06 points, to 31,113.30, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.35 percent, or 7.96 points, to 2,247.69.
The fall came after New York shares ended in losses last week on worries that Israel may launch a ground invasion of Gaza.
“The Middle East situation is expected to weigh on the market throughout this week,” Nomura Securities said.
Weak corporate earnings from US companies also encouraged selling in Tokyo, the brokerage added.
The strength of the US Treasury yields was also driving down the market, said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.
“Asian stocks are expected to slip in early trading as US yields continued to rise last week for reasons other than solid growth, and now the world has to deal with that issue,” he said.
Over the weekend, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s ruling party lost one of two by-elections, dealing a blow to the conservative leader as he mulls calling a possible snap national vote.
The loss “may also be a factor weighing on the market today”, Nomura Securities said.
In early trade the yen again dropped below the possible intervention level of 150 against the dollar before recovering to 149.85 yen.
Some players also were cautious as the Bank of Japan may adjust its policy in a board meeting next week, analysts said.
Among major Tokyo shares, Toyota fell 0.61 percent to 2,601 yen, with the auto giant still experiencing production problems after an explosion at a parts supplier last week.
SoftBank Group fell 1.47 percent to 6,163 yen. Nintendo lost 0.85 percent to 6,049 yen.
Fast Retailing, which operates the Uniqlo fashion brand, dropped 0.59 percent to 33,640 yen.



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