The Nikkei Average fell about ¥208 from the previous day and retreated again, but dip buying emerged after morning selling subsided, narrowing the decline by the close of the morning session.
The Nikkei Stock Average fell ¥208.34 from the previous day to ¥66,008.45 in the morning session on the 21st, while TOPIX also retreated, down 5.07 points at 4,054.66. Selling led the market from the opening following declines in US stocks, and the Nikkei fell to ¥65,260.22 at 10:06 a.m.
Losses subsequently narrowed as dip buying emerged in stocks including Fujikura, Advantest and Tokyo Electron, bringing the morning session to a close. In the foreign exchange market, the yen moved slightly higher, with the dollar trading in the latter half of the ¥158 range.
Trading volume on the TSE Prime Market was 995.39 million shares, with trading value at ¥4.0209 trillion. There were 556 advancers, 917 decliners and 73 unchanged issues. By sector, 17 of the 33 sectors fell and 16 rose.
Stocks that traded lower from the opening included Other Products sector stocks such as Bandai Namco and Nintendo, Precision Instruments sector stocks such as Olympus and HOYA, pharmaceutical stocks Chugai Pharmaceutical and Daiichi Sankyo, and Machinery sector stocks Daikin and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. By contrast, Marine Transportation stocks such as Nippon Yusen and Kawasaki Kisen, as well as Mining stocks such as INPEX and Japan Petroleum Exploration, were relatively firm.