The Nikkei Stock Average continued its sharp decline at midday on the 23rd, ending the morning session at ¥61,825.26, down ¥1,082.58 from the previous day. Decliners dominated stock movements, with a succession of major contributors among the leading movers.
The Nikkei Stock Average ended the morning session on the 23rd at ¥61,825.26, down ¥1,082.58 from the previous day. On the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market, 469 stocks rose, 1,047 fell and 30 were unchanged, with decliners far outnumbering gainers.
Advantest was the largest negative contributor to the Nikkei, weighing by ¥293.42, followed by SoftBank Group at ¥212.78, Tokyo Electron at ¥176.98, TDK at ¥102.65 and Ibiden at ¥70.66. On the positive side, Fast Retailing was the largest contributor, lifting the index by ¥199.84, followed by Chugai Pharmaceutical, Kikkoman, Secom and Nitori Holdings.
By sector, 9 of 33 sectors rose. Real estate, retail, fisheries, agriculture and forestry, and foods were the top-performing sectors, while nonferrous metals, banks and electric appliances were among the leading decliners.
The market fell sharply during the morning session, with defensive stocks and real estate shares among the main movers.