FX168 Financial Report (Asia Pacific) News On Thursday (November 14), Japan's Nikkei stock index closed lower for the third day in a row. Although the yen fell to a new low, major technology stocks followed the decline of their US peers.

The Nikkei Index rebounded for a while in early trading, breaking through 39,000 points, but eventually fell 0.5% to close at 38,535.70 points, the lowest closing level in more than a week. The continued decline in technology stocks dragged down the index's performance. The broader TSE index fell 0.3% to 2,701.22 points. #日本市场 #

Among chip-related stocks, Tokyo Electronics and Edwin Testing fell 3.5% and 2.8%, respectively, which dragged down the Nikkei Index the most. SoftBank Group, a startup investor focused on artificial intelligence, fell 3.2%, while Lasertec shares fell 5%.

The heavyweight company Express Sales (Uniqlo's parent company) helped limit the decline, and the stock price rose 1.4%.

The banking sector rose 0.9%, and investors focused on a series of financial reports released by major domestic banks on Thursday.

The stock with the biggest decline in the Nikkei Index was Kansai Electric Power, which fell 18.5% as the Japanese electric power company announced plans to raise 504.9 billion yen (about 3.3 billion US dollars) on Wednesday.

The yen fell below 156 against the US dollar, providing some support for export stocks. The performance of export companies, including automobile manufacturers, improved, but gains narrowed during midday trading. Toyota closed up 0.2%.

Hiroshi Namioka, chief strategist at T&D Asset Management, said, “I think the Nikkei Index's room for growth is temporarily limited.”

The “Trump deal” boosted the US stock market to a new high, which in turn boosted the Japanese stock market last week. However, the Nikkei index declined as investors settled profits and weighed the likely impact of the incoming Trump administration's position on trade and tariffs on Japan.

Namioka also stated that “there are currently no particularly significant policies in place to clarify the direction of the Japanese stock market,” so it is expected that the Nikkei Index will remain within the 38,000 to 40,000 point range in the medium term under uncertainty.