Continuing the downward trend from the previous session, the Japanese stock market experienced a significant decline on Friday, influenced by generally negative signals from global markets overnight. The Nikkei 225, Japan's benchmark index, dropped over 2%, positioning just above the 38,200 mark. The downturn affected nearly all sectors, particularly impacting major index constituents and technology stocks. This followed the Bank of Japan’s decision to maintain steady interest rates while cautioning about "high uncertainties" in the wake of the ruling party's worst election outcome in 15 years.
The Nikkei 225 Index decreased by 862.94 points or 2.21%, landing at 38,218.31, which matched its earlier low of the day. On Thursday, Japanese stocks had already closed significantly lower.
Leading market giant SoftBank Group fell over 5%, while Fast Retailing, which operates Uniqlo, saw a decline of nearly 2%. Among automakers, Honda dropped by 1.5%, and Toyota by almost 2%.
In the technology sector, Advantest lost nearly 3%, Tokyo Electron more than 3%, though Screen Holdings managed to gain almost 1%.
Within the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial inched up between 0.1 to 0.4%, whereas Sumitomo Mitsui Financial slipped by 0.3%.
Key exporters also saw declines: Canon fell by over 1%, and Sony decreased by nearly 1%. In contrast, Panasonic surged by more than 10%, and Mitsubishi Electric soared by almost 15%.
Other significant decliners included Lasertec, which plummeted nearly 15%, Socionext, which plunged over 11%, and Fujitsu which slid in excess of 9%. Renesas Electronics dropped almost 7%, Shiseido over 6%, with Fujikura and Sumitomo Heavy Industries both losing more than 5%. Nikon and Nippon Electric Glass fell by nearly 5%, with TDK, Hitachi, Nitto Denko, NTN, and Furukawa Electric all declining over 4%.
Conversely, Fuji Electric and Keisei Electric Railway each gained over 5%, while JTEKT added more than 4%. Oriental Land and Resona Holdings advanced by almost 3% each.
In the currency market on Friday, the U.S. dollar was trading in the lower 152 yen range.
On Wall Street, stocks showed continued weakness throughout Thursday’s trading after an initial sharp decline. The Nasdaq saw a particularly steep drop due to a technology stock sell-off.
The major indices further declined towards the close, ending the session near their lowest points. The Nasdaq plunged 512.78 points or 2.8% to 18,095.15, while the S&P 500 fell 108.22 points or 1.9% to 5,705.45, and the Dow decreased 378.08 points or 0.9% to 41,763.46.
European markets also faced declines on the same day. The French CAC 40 Index fell by 1.1%, the German DAX Index by 0.9%, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index by 0.6%.
Crude oil prices rose on Thursday, driven by expectations of increased U.S. demand and potential delays in OPEC's planned output increase scheduled for December. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for December ended with a $0.65 or 0.95% increase, at $69.26 per barrel.
