Buying to cover dominated the Tokyo market on the first day of September trading following the previous day's sharp decline, with the Nikkei ending at ¥66,311.93. All three major U.S. indexes fell, but the market tone raised expectations of a sharp rebound.
Trading in the Tokyo market on the first day of September began after the previous day's steep decline, but intense selling pressure quickly subsided and buying to cover dominated. The Nikkei ended ¥93.63 lower than the previous Friday at ¥66,311.93, recovering much of its decline at the open.
In the previous day's U.S. market, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell $374.09 to $53,185.90, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 31.53 points to 26,370.88, and the S&P 500 declined 25.62 points to 7,686.14. The decline in U.S. equities could put downward pressure on the Tokyo market, but following the Nikkei's sharp rebound the previous day, some expected excessive selling to be contained.
During the day, the Nikkei fell as low as ¥64,832.10, but rebounded toward the close, with the recovery reaching ¥1,479.83. This suggested that short-term selling pressure may have run its course.
In foreign exchange trading, the dollar-yen rate was in the ¥159.75 range and the euro in the mid-¥185 range around 6 a.m. on the 1st. The weaker yen may have been benefiting exporters' earnings.