On the 20th, the Nikkei Average extended its decline in the afternoon session, with falls in SoftBank Group and nonferrous metal stocks weighing on the market. The dollar is expected to remain soft against the yen as lower US interest rates weigh on the currency.
The Nikkei Average ended the morning session down ¥404.35 at ¥64,512.35. US markets were mixed, with the Dow down $36.38 and the Nasdaq up 290.85 points. In the afternoon session, selling spread to stocks including SoftBank Group and Fujikura, widening the Nikkei Average's decline.
Against the backdrop of movements in long-term US interest rates and crude oil futures prices, buying and selling are expected to remain mixed in the afternoon session. The Nikkei Average was down ¥404.35 at the morning close. Among individual stocks, Advantest, Fast Retailing and Konami Group rose, while SoftBank Group, Kyocera, TDK and FANUC declined.
The dollar-yen pair moved narrowly in the upper ¥158 range. The decline in the 10-year US Treasury yield to the ¥5.13% range has encouraged dollar selling, while the cross-yen pairs remained firm. Trading ranges were ¥158.37–¥158.60 for dollar-yen, ¥177.72–¥177.91 for euro-yen and 1.1211–1.1229 dollars for euro-dollar.
Among the 11 stocks flagged for monitoring in the afternoon session, Veritas In Silico and Ubiquitous AI were among those to hit their upper price limits. SoftBank Group was the top negative contributor, followed by Fujikura in second place.