At the end of the day on the 17th, the number of rising stocks among the Nikkei 225 constituent stocks was 60, the number of falling stocks was 164, and the number of unchanged stocks was 1.

The U.S. stock market continued to rise on the 12th. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 41,096.77, up 235.06 dollars (+0.58%). The NASDAQ closed at 17,569.68, up 174.15 points (+1.00%). The S&P 500 closed at 5,595.76, up 41.63 points (+0.75%). Despite the August Producer Price Index (PPI) exceeding expectations and the view that the rate cut trajectory remained unchanged, the semiconductor companies like NVIDIA were strong, leading to an initial rise. At the same time, disappointment in the slow pace of interest rate cuts led to some selling and a temporary decline, but the market remained firm due to support from the high-tech sector. Towards the end, there was an accelerated buyback due to expectations after the Wall Street Journal pointed out the possibility of a significant interest rate cut, leading to a substantial rally at the end.

Although U.S. stocks rose, the Tokyo market got off to a slow start due to the strong yen. After the opening, the Nikkei average continued to stagnate around the 36,800 yen level, but as the exchange rate entered the 140 yen range for 1 dollar, the yen's appreciation accelerated, causing the Nikkei average to trend weaker. However, despite the accelerated yen appreciation, ahead of the 3-day weekend, cautious sentiment prevailed, which helped avoid a sharp decline in the afternoon. The preliminary settlement index (SQ) value of the September stock options and futures, calculated at the opening, was 36,906.92 yen. As the Nikkei average did not exceed this level during trading hours, it became known as the "phantom SQ".

The closing price of the Nikkei Average was 36,581.76 yen, down 251.51 yen (-0.68%) from the previous day. The trading volume on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market was 1,737.7 million shares, with a trading value of 4.2172 trillion yen. Among the industries, rubber products, transportation equipment, pharmaceuticals, insurance, and electric and gas industries declined, while marine transportation, mining, iron and steel, air transportation, and machinery industries rose. The number of advancing stocks on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market was 21%, while the number of declining stocks was 75%.

The top contributor to the decline was Fast Retailing Co., Ltd., which pushed down the Nikkei Average by about 60 yen with one stock. Konami Holdings Corp. ranked second, followed by TDK Corp., Softbank Group Corp., Astellas Pharma Inc., Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd., and others.

On the other hand, the top contributor to the rise was Tokyo Electron Ltd., which pushed up the Nikkei Average by about 39 yen with one stock. Advantest Corp. ranked second, followed by Nitto Denko Corp., Fanuc Corp., Shiseido Company, Limited, Disco Corp., and Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd.

* As of 15:00

Nikkei 225 Stock Average: 36,581.76 (-251.51)

Number of increasing stocks: 60 (contribution +123.15).

Number of decreasing stocks: 164 (contribution -374.66).

Number of unchanged issues　1

○ Top advancing stocks

Code, Stock Name, Latest Price, Day Change, Contribution

<8035> Higashi Electric 23680 400 39.23

<6857> Advante 6375 82 21.45

<6988> Nisshin Denko 11755 250 8.17

<6954> Fanuc Corp 3856 47 7.68

<4911> Shiseido Company,Limited Sponsored ADR 3345 133 4.35

<6146> Disco 35300 660 4.32

<4568> Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited 5135 44 4.32

<9613> NTT Data Corporation 2386 24 3.84

<6367> Daikin Industries, Ltd. Unsponsored ADR 17275 100 3.27

<3099> Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd. 2263 84 2.73

<8253> Credit Saison Co., Ltd. 3489 82 2.68

<3405> Kuraray 1955 79 2.57

<6361> Ebara Corporation 1980 78 2.53

<5803> Fujikura 4130 51 1.67

<8267> AEON 3954 41 1.34

<7011> Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 1775 41 1.34

<7012> Kawasaki Heavy Industries 4918 333 1.09

<5713> Sumitomo Metal Mining Co.,Ltd. 3621 66 1.08

<8697> JPX 3407 23 0.75

<9107> Kawasaki Kisen 1968 24 0.71

Top decreasing stocks

Code, Stock Name, Latest Price, Day Change, Contribution

＜9983＞ Fujitsu Limited 43900 -620 -60.81

＜9766＞ Konami Group 13550 -535 -17.49

＜6762＞ TDK Corporation 8969 -156 -15.30

＜9984＞ SoftBank Group Corp 8429 -71 -13.93

＜4503＞ Astellas Pharma Inc. 1705 -84.5 -13.81

<4519> Chugai Pharmaceuticals 6720 -112 -10.98

<4063> Shin-Etsu Chemical 5706 -59 -9.64

<6098> Recruit Holdings 8669 -98 -9.61

<7203> Toyota Motor 2455 -58 -9.48

<4901> Fujifilm 3803 -83 -8.14

<7751> Canon 4719 -158 -7.75

<4507> Shionogi 6311 -223 -7.29

<6971> Kyocera 1696 -25 -6.54

<2802> Ajinomoto 5285 -198 -6.47

<3659> Nexon 2670 -85.5 -5.59

<4578> Otsuka Holdings 8024 -165 -5.39

<6758> Sony Group 13105 -155 -5.07

<4543> Terumo 2588 -19 -4.97

<9843> Nitori Holdings 22610 -295 -4.82

<6981> Murata Manufacturing 2727 -60.5 -4.75