[Nikkei Stock Average and TOPIX (Table)]
Nikkei average; 38066.31; -43.91
TOPIX; 2663.04; +1.63
[Sector]: Mining, insurance, banking, transportation equipment, wholesale trade, etc. are the top decliners, while pharmaceuticals, precision instruments, and electric and gas industries rose. The turnover of the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime includes Laser Tech <6920>, Mirrors HD <8897>, Kawasaki Shipbuilding <9107>, Dai-ichi Life HD <8750>, Recruit HD <6098>, Marubeni <8002>, Mitsui & Co. <8031>, Honda <7267>, SMC <6273>, INPEX <1605>, Nissan Motor <7201>, and Nomura <8604>, all of which fell. Meanwhile, Nitori Holdings <9843>, Rakuten Group <4755>, and Daiichi Sankyo <4568>, among others, have risen.
On the 27th, the Nikkei average continued to decline, opening trading at 38066.31 yen, down 43.91 yen. The previous day's 26th, the U.S. stock market was mixed. The Dow average closed at 41240.52 dollars, up 65.44 dollars, while the Nasdaq closed at 17725.77, down 152.02 points. Following Federal Reserve Board (FRB) Chairman Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole meeting, expectations of a rate cut continued to be bought, leading to an increase after the opening. Subsequently, durable goods orders and the Dallas Fed manufacturing activity index exceeded expectations, causing the Dow to rise on expectations of a soft landing. Concerns about the Middle East capped gains, leading to a setback towards the end, but still marking a new all-time high. In addition to rising long-term interest rates, the semiconductor sector, including Nvidia (NVDA), faced declines ahead of earnings reports and Nasdaq traded weakly throughout the day.
Selling prevailed in the Tokyo stock market today. While the Dow average rose in the U.S. stock market yesterday, the high-tech stock-heavy Nasdaq composite index and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) comprising major semiconductor-related stocks fell, weighing down on tech and semiconductor-related stocks in the Tokyo market. This week also saw Nvidia's earnings report for the May-July period scheduled for the 28th, prompting some to hold back on active buying to assess this event. On the other hand, the rise in the Dow average and the new high set in the U.S. stock market yesterday supported stock prices in Tokyo. In the foreign exchange market, the dollar strengthened slightly, reaching around 144.50 yen, compared to around 3:00 pm yesterday, providing some reassurance in the Tokyo market. However, selling dominated the opening phase.
By sector, other products, air transportation, real estate, electric appliances, and metal products were among the top decliners in terms of percentage, while mining, oil & coal products, warehousing and transportation, electric and gas industry, pulp and paper were among the top gainers. Among the top trading values on the TSE Prime, companies like Kasumigaseki Capital <3498>, TOWA <6315>, Laser Tech <6920>, Advantest <6857>, Hitachi <6501>, Renesas <6723>, Disco <6146>, Shinko Electric <6967>, Fujikura <5803>, Toho Electric <8035>, Rakuten Group <4755>, Nintendo Co Ltd <7974>, all declined. On the other hand, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries <7003>, INPEX <1605>, Mitsui OSK Lines <9104>, Itochu <8001>, Yamaha Motor <7272>, NTT <9432>, Nippon Yusen <9101>, 7&iHD <3382>, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries <7011>, MS&AD <8725>, Honda <7267>, Takeda Pharmaceutical <4502>, and others were on the rise.