January 17th, 2024: Nikkei Stock Market Continues to Fall

On January 17th, the Nikkei average on the Tokyo stock market continued to fall, falling 141.43 yen from the previous business day to 35,477.75 yen. Photo taken in December 2022 in Tokyo (2024 Reuters / Issei Kato)

TOKYO (Reuters) – On the Tokyo stock market, the Nikkei Stock Average continued to fall, falling 141.43 yen from the previous business day to 35,477.75 yen. Due to the weakening of the yen, the Nikkei Stock Average at one point rose above 600 yen, hitting a post-bubble high, but after a round of buying, profit-taking selling gradually prevailed.

The Nikkei average started strongly, rising 231 yen from the previous business day. After the move, the rate of increase widened and surpassed the SQ (Special Clearing Index) value of 36,025.97 yen, which had been seen as an uptrend. The rally strengthened, and by midday the stock had risen 620 yen to a high of 36,239.22 sen, the highest level since February 1990.

However, the rate of increase gradually decreased from the second half of the first session, and turned negative in the second half. In addition to a drop in Asian stock prices, China’s National Bureau of Statistics announced on the 17th that gross domestic product (GDP) for the fourth quarter of 2023 will increase by 5.2% year-on-year, compared to analysts’ expectations of 5.3. the fact that the increase was slightly less than the 10% increase caused investors to take profits and sell. In the middle of the market, the price moved back and forth between negative and positive territory, with no sense of direction, but the selling became a little stronger towards the end.

Hiroshi Namioka, chief strategist and fund manager at T&D Asset Management, said, “Japanese stocks are experiencing tailwinds, including a weaker dollar/yen pairing, expectations for domestic companies’ financial results, and the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s bid to improve capital efficiency. ””The Nikkei 225 may try to move higher in the near future.” However, a near-term risk is worsening business confidence in the United States, Namioka said. “If US interest rates fall and the Yen appreciates due to a deterioration in US economic indicators, Japanese stocks are likely to be in a correction mood. .”(Mr. Namioka) The scene was shown.

The rapid increase in stock prices makes it easy to feel a sense of short-term overheating, and if the correction deepens, “there is a possibility that prices will fall to around 34,000 yen, which was considered an upper limit the fire range. last year.” (Domestic operation) Opinions were also expressed by company/portfolio managers.

TOPIX closed 0.30% lower at 2,496.38 points. The trading value on the TSE primary market was 5,278,734 million yen. Of the 33 industries on the TSE, the price of eight industries increased including wholesale, insurance and retail. Prices fell in 24 industries, including mining, electricity/gas, and pharmaceuticals, while non-ferrous metals prices remained unchanged.

Individually, Shin-Etsu Chemical (4063.T), opening a new tab was down 3.3%, and Daikin Industries (6367.T), opening a new tab was down 2.5%. On the other hand, trading company stocks such as Mitsubishi Corporation (8058.T), opens a new tab, Itochu Corporation (8001.T), opens a new tab, and Mitsui & Co (8031.T), opens a new tab is solid. A US economic magazine reports that the CEO of Sumitomo Corporation, Masayuki Hyodo, has said that he is increasing his stake in the five major trading companies in which Berkshire Hathaway, an investment company led by the famous investor Warren Buffett, invests . SoftBank Group (9984.T), opens a new tab, a major contributor to the index, over 2% higher. Fast Retailing (9983.T), opened a new tab slightly lower.

In the main market, 486 stocks (29%) rose in price, 1,114 stocks fell (67%), and 57 stocks (3%) remained unchanged.

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