In the Tokyo stock market on the 13th, stock prices fell sharply as selling orders were issued for export-related stocks in response to the appreciation of the yen against the dollar in the foreign exchange market.

▽The closing price of the Nikkei Stock Average was 26,119.52 yen, 330.30 yen lower than the 12th.



▽The Tokyo Stock Price Index = Topics fell 5.10 to 1903.08.



▽The daily trading volume was 1,479.83 million shares.

The Tokyo stock market on the 13th fell sharply because the yen strengthened by more than 2 yen against the dollar compared to the 12th, and sell orders spread to export-related stocks such as automobiles.



There are two factors behind the appreciation of the yen against the dollar.



First, there is widespread speculation that the pace of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, the U.S. central bank, will slow down.

The results of the US employment data and consumer price index released this month both suggest that inflation is converging, leading to dollar selling and yen buying.



Second, speculation is growing rapidly that the Bank of Japan will revise its monetary policy at next week's meeting, following last month's policy revision.



Japanese government bonds were sold in the bond market on speculation that interest rates would rise in Japan in the future, and Japan's long-term interest rates exceeded the 0.5% upper limit raised by the Bank of Japan last month for the first time.



These two factors have made the yen highly volatile, and the attention of market participants is focused on the Bank of Japan meeting next week.