Following a somewhat negative trend from Wall Street, the Japanese stock market is making significant losses this Thursday. In fact, the Nikkei 225 has dropped below the 38,000 mark, led by a downturn in most sectors, especially those carrying significant weight within the index and those comprised of exporter companies. As of today, the Nikkei 225 Index has lost 247.22 points, representing a 0.63 percent decrease, falling to 38,960.81. This follows a slightly negative performance on Wednesday.
Large companies are also seeing losses, with SoftBank Group dropping by over 1 percent and Fast Retailing, the company behind Uniqlo, falling by 0.4 percent. In the car industry, Toyota has seen a 0.3 percent decrease, though Honda's value has risen by almost 1 percent.
Among tech companies, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are each down by 0.3 to 0.4 percent, while Screen Holdings has dropped by over 1 percent. In the banking sector, they are falling from 0.1 to 0.4 percent each for Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mizuho Financial, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial.
Major exporters are experiencing varied performances; Canon's value has increased by 0.5 percent while Panasonic, Mitsubishi Electric, and Sony have dropped by more than 1 percent, 1 percent, and 2 percent respectively.
Meanwhile, Tokyo Gas and Tokyo Electric Power have both seen over a 3 percent decrease in share value. However, other companies like Nomura Holdings and Aozora Bank have gained almost 12 percent and Seven & I Holdings has risen by almost 6 percent. In addition, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha and Alps Alpine are each gaining more than 3 percent, with Hoya adding about 3 percent.
Looking at economic statistics, Japan's industrial production has dropped by 7.5 percent as of January. This figure was adjusted for seasonal variations and was reported by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, but fell short of the forecasted 6.7 percent decrease after a 1.4 percent increase in December. According to predictions, output is projected to rise by 4.8 percent in February and 2.0 percent in March.
In other news, retail sales in Japan have risen by 2.3 percent in January, amounting to 13.141 trillion yen, exceeding the forecasted 2.0 percent increase.
In currency trading, the US dollar is currently exchanging for around 150 yen. Meanwhile, in the US, despite some recovery from initial losses, stocks largely remain down from Tuesday's mixed performance. European markets fared similarly with mixed results.
Crude oil prices fell after reports showed a larger-than-expected increase in US crude inventories last week. Prices for West Texas Intermediate crude oil for April delivery have decreased by $0.33, or 0.42 percent, landing at $78.54 a barrel.
