The Nikkei Average is trading around 470 points lower, with Japan Steel Works, Trend Micro and Fast Retailing among the biggest decliners among constituent stocks. The decline widened temporarily during the morning, but the market subsequently found support from buybacks and began to hold above its lows.
The Nikkei Average was trading around 470 points below the previous day’s close in the Tokyo market on the morning of the 21st. Selling led the market from the start, and the index fell to ¥65,260.22 at 10:06 a.m., down around ¥956 from the previous day. Thereafter, dip-buying emerged and the decline began to narrow.
Among Nikkei constituent stocks, Japan Steel Works, Trend Micro, Fast Retailing, IHI and Sumitomo Pharma were among the biggest decliners. Individual stocks saw substantial declines, with Japan Steel Works down around ¥370, Trend Micro down around ¥271 and Fast Retailing down around ¥3,120.
IHI was also trading around ¥121.5 lower, while Sumitomo Pharma was down around ¥57.5, with declines standing out across constituent stocks overall. Meanwhile, Sumitomo Chemical, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Kioxia, Ricoh and Nippon Yusen were among the biggest gainers by percentage.
The dollar-yen exchange rate continued to move sideways around ¥159 to the dollar, and market participants were watching developments in external factors and the progress of corporate earnings as potential drivers going forward.