The Japanese stock market began trading significantly lower on Monday, reversing course after opening in positive territory. This slump that has the benchmark Nikkei 225 falling below 39,800 is in response to underwhelming domestic economic indicators, including the first drop in business sentiment in a year, and factory activity contracting for the tenth consecutive month.
At its lowest point of the day, the Nikkei 225 index had receded 593.69 points or 1.47% to 39,775.75, after briefly reaching a high of 40,697.22. This decline follows a notable gain in Japanese share prices on Friday.
Among the stocks experiencing losses are market heavyweight SoftBank Group, down nearly 1%, and auto manufacturers Honda and Toyota, down over 2% and nearly 4% respectively. Scrutiny in the tech sector reveals similar trends, with Screen Holdings, Advantest, and Tokyo Electron down 3.5%, 3%, and 2.5% respectively.
Similar losses can be seen in the financial industry, with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, and Mizuho Financial down over 2%, 3%, and close to 3% respectively. Major exporters Canon and Mitsubishi Electric are also experiencing losses of nearly 1% each.
Other significant losses have been reported by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, down nearly 5%, with Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Sompo Holdings, and Resonac Holdings all down more than 4% each. Furthermore, Mitsui Chemicals and JTEKT, ENEOS Holdings and Fujitsu, and Asahi Kasei and Mitsui Mining & Smelting all report losses of nearly 4% and over 3% respectively.
On a more positive note, there are some companies experiencing growth; Fanuc and Casio Computer are each up over 5%, while Omron and Citizen Watch are up nearly 5% and Yaskawa Electric and Rakuten Group are up nearly 4%. Other companies enjoying advances of nearly 3% are Kao, Dentsu Group, SMC Corp., and Murata Manufacturing.
In the forex market, the U.S. dollar is now valued in the lower 151 yen range.
It's worth noting that both Wall Street and the major European markets were closed for Good Friday.
