As of the close on the 18th, the number of stocks in the Nikkei average that rose was 78, those that fell was 144, and 3 remained unchanged.

On the 17th, the US stock market declined. The Dow average ended down 267.58 dollars at 43,449.90 dollars, and the Nasdaq closed down 64.83 points at 20,109.06. Due to the persistently high long-term interest rates, the market dropped after the opening. Although the retail revenue in November that was announced in the morning exceeded market expectations, and the view that the Federal Reserve (FRB) would lower interest rates at the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has not changed, it led to an observation that the pace of interest rate cuts next year may slow down. The uncertainty in monetary policy before the FOMC weighed on the market, with both the Dow and Nasdaq remaining soft throughout the day.

In response to the decline in US stocks, the Tokyo market opened with selling dominating the trade. After starting in the 39,100 yen range, the Nikkei average narrowed its decline and even showed a brief rebound at one point. With proactive trading restrained ahead of the US and Japan central bank meetings, the index's fluctuations remained modest. On the other hand, Nissan Motor Co <7201> soared to its daily limit due to reports of entering talks for a management integration with Honda <7267>, while Mitsubishi Motors <7211>, in which Nissan is the largest shareholder, also hit its daily limit, indicating lively activity in the automobile sector.

The Nikkei average at the close fell by 282.97 yen (-0.72%) to 39,081.71. The trading volume on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Main Board was 2.1 billion 10.06 million shares. The trading value was 4 trillion 124.8 billion yen. By Global Sectors, Other Products, Services, Information and Communications, Retail, and Fisheries and Agriculture saw declines, while Transportation Equipment, Electricity and Gas, Other Financials, Securities and Commodity Futures, and Mining rose. The percentage of rising stocks on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Main Board was 35%, while the percentage of falling stocks was 60%.

The top contributor to the decline was Fast Retailing <9983>, which lowered the Nikkei average by about 83 yen with one stock. The second was SoftBank Group <9984>, followed by Recruit Holdings <6098>, Chugai Pharmaceutical <4519>, Sony Group Corp <6758>, Terumo <4543>, and Kddi Corporation <9433>.

On the other hand, the top contributor to the rise was Advantest <6857>, which raised the Nikkei average by about 25 yen with one stock. The second was Disco <6146>, followed by Daiichi Sankyo <4568>, Toyota Motor <7203>, Ebara Corporation <6361>, Taiyo Yuden <6976>, and Lasertec <6920>.

*As of 15:00

Nikkei Stock Average 39,081.71 (-282.97)

Number of rising stocks 78 (contribution +103.82)

Number of falling stocks 144 (contribution -386.79)

Number of unchanged stocks 3

○ Top rising stocks

Code Stock Name Recent Price Change from Previous Day Contribution

○ Top declining stocks

Code Stock Name Recent Price Change from Previous Day Contribution