[Nikkei Stock Average and TOPIX (Table)]

Nikkei Average; 39,021.13; -311.61

TOPIX; 2,716.83; -22.56

[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 8th, the Nikkei average opened 311.61 yen lower at 39,021.13 yen, falling for the first time in 4 days. The previous day, the US stock market fell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 41954.24 dollars, down 398.51 dollars, and the Nasdaq closed at 17,923.90 down 213.95 points. It was announced that the Israeli Prime Minister, in the first year after attacks by Hamas, declared the continued attacks, increasing concerns about the deteriorating Middle East situation, leading to a decline after the opening. The Nasdaq was also sold due to rising long-term interest rates, keeping the market weak throughout the day. Concerns grew about a newly intensifying hurricane leading to economic chaos, and it eventually fell significantly towards the end.

Selling pressure dominated the Tokyo stock market today. Major indices fell in the US stock market yesterday, and the upward trend in US long-term interest rates in overseas markets weighed on Tokyo market stock prices. Furthermore, the heightened geopolitical risks in the Middle East and concerns about corporate earnings pressure from rising oil prices also became factors restraining buyers. On the other hand, the stability of the yen exchange rate at low yen levels and high dollar levels in the foreign exchange market provided a sense of security in the stock market. Also, while the major three indices in the US stock market (Dow Jones, Nasdaq Composite Index, S&P500) fell by around 1% yesterday, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index composed of major semiconductor-related stocks showed a slight 0.19% decline, providing support for semiconductor-related stocks and others in the Tokyo market, but selling pressure prevailed at the opening. Before the start of trading, the Household Survey for August, announced, showed a 1.9% decrease in real consumption expenditure for households of 2 people or more compared to the same month last year, with a median market forecast compiled by QUICK showing a 2.7% decrease. Also, according to the BoP (Preliminary) for August released before the start of trading, the current account surplus was 3 trillion 803.6 billion yen, expanding by 1 trillion 509.9 billion yen compared to the same month last year. The median private sector forecast compiled by QUICK was a current account surplus of 2 trillion 907 billion yen.

In terms of sectors, wholesale trade, securities and futures, other financing business, rubber products, metal products, etc. are among the top decliners, while oil & coal products, mining, and nonferrous metals are showing gains. Among the top trading values on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime, Nissan Motor <7201>, Mitsukoshi Isetan <3099>, Mercari <4385>, Mitsui <8031>, Sony Group <6758>, Mitsubishi Corp <8058>, KDDI <9433>, SoftBank Group <9984>, Daikin <6367>, Mazda <7261>, Recruit Holdings <6098>, Keyence <6861>, Itochu <8001>, Toyota <7203>, and others are declining. On the other hand, Fujikura <5803>, Fujitsu <6702>, Hitachi <6501>, ENEOS <5020>, Advantest <6857>, INPEX <1605>, Terumo <4543>, Tohoku Electric Power <8035>, IHI <7013>, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries <7011>, and others are rising.