On Friday, July 26th, the Nikkei average index in Japan closed lower, reversing the morning gains and extending its record-breaking decline to the eighth trading day, as investors adjusted their positions amid the uncertainty on Wall Street. Investors held a cautious attitude towards the policy decision by the Bank of Japan to be announced next week, afraid that the "black swan" event of raising policy interest rates might suddenly occur.
The Nikkei index fell 0.53% to 37,667.41 points, the lowest close since April 25th, after rising 0.6% as investors bought stocks that seemed undervalued. It fell 5.48% this week, the worst week since mid-April.
(Source: Trading View)
The TOPIX index fell 0.38% to 2,699.54 points, down 5.28% this week.
At the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the number of declining stocks was 1,798, the number of rising stocks was 1,773, and 303 stocks were unchanged, basically the same.
Shoichi Arisawa, general manager of the investment research department of IwaiCosmo Securities, said that there was no particular negative news in the market, but investors were selling stocks to adjust their positions before the weekend, as the US market has been fluctuating and may drop significantly overnight.
The S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite index closed weaker on Thursday, failed to recover lost ground, as investors were trying to cope with the possible direction of large stocks.
Arisawa pointed out that the market held a cautious attitude towards the policy decision to be announced by the Bank of Japan next week, as expectations of raising policy interest rates by the Bank of Japan are increasing.
Weighted chip-related stocks fell, with Tokyo Electron down 4.77%, dragging down the Nikkei index the most. Advantest fell 3.56%. Renesas Electronics fell 5.48%, becoming the biggest loser in the Nikkei index, continuing its decline after reporting a 29% drop in net income for the six months ended June.
However, Shuutarou Yasuda, market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory, said that the good news is that the market is buying optimistic companies.
Hino Motors rose 12.76%, becoming the biggest gainer in the Nikkei index, as the truck maker narrowed its quarterly net loss.
Yasuda said that with the continuation of the earnings season after next week, strong corporate prospects are expected to support the Nikkei index.
According to Investing.com, the Nikkei volatility index, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 index options, rose 15.83% to 22.02, a three-month high.
The USD/JPY fell 0.14% to 153.71, and the EUR/JPY fell 0.08% to 166.80.