Because of high US bond yields

The decline of "heavy" companies drops Japanese stocks

The Nikkei index recorded a loss for the second week in a row.

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Japanese stocks fell, yesterday, for the second consecutive session, as they were negatively affected by losses incurred by index-heavy stocks and technology companies, while investor sentiment was affected by the high yields of US bonds.

The Japanese Nikkei index fell 0.23% to 28,864.32 points, and recorded a loss for the second week in a row.

The Topix index closed down 0.61% to 1,896.18 points.

The decline comes after a weaker performance last night at the close on Wall Street, which resulted in the Nasdaq index falling about 10% from its record high level recorded in February. Calming investors, worried about rising US longer-term bond yields.

US Treasury yields jumped during US trading hours after Powell's speech, pushing the 10-year yields topping 1.5%.

Shares in "Fast" Retail, the operating company of "Uniqlo" clothing stores, fell 3.39%, and was the largest contributor to the decline of "Nikki".

Recruiting Holdings Inc., a jobseeker, fell 6.34%.

Chip-related stocks, which led the rally this year, also declined.

Tokyo Electron lost 2.47%, Advantest lost 1.27%, and Fanuc fell 0.94%.

Toshiba’s share rose 6.06%, as the Mizuho Financial Group formed a 5.07% stake in the energy and infrastructure services company, following the disclosure of a 5.21% stake owned by the BlackRock investment fund.

The biggest loser on the index, in percentage, was Hitachi Zusen, which fell 7.5%, followed by Pacific Metals, which fell 6.25%.

And 145 stocks advanced on the Nikkei index, against a decline of 76.

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