Japan’s Nikkei 225 falls more than 5% — The Japan Times

Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index in Tokyo fell by more than 5% on October 15 amid a global sell-off in technology stocks. At around 1 p.m., the index dropped to 64,092.74 points, representing a 5.39% decline for the day.

Decline in technology companies

Among technology companies, Advantest shares had fallen by more than 15% by noon, while Tokyo Electron shares were down by about 8%. SoftBank Group shares declined by more than 10%, and Kioxia shares by more than 11%.

As The Japan Times reports, the sell-off began in the United States after the release of inflation data that exceeded market expectations. The S&P 500 fell by 1.11% on Wednesday, while the Nasdaq Composite declined by 1.88%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which tracks the performance of 30 semiconductor-sector company stocks, dropped by 4.3%: Nvidia lost 3%, while Oracle lost about 9%.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Inflation and Asian markets

In the United States, it was reported that inflation stood at 3.7% in September. After this, traders briefly assessed the probability of a Federal Reserve rate hike in October at 50%, but the figure later fell to 27%. The Fed meeting is scheduled for October 27–28.

The negative trend also spread to South Korea: the Kospi index was down by about 8%, Samsung Electronics shares lost nearly 10%, and SK Hynix shares declined by about 11%. Investor sentiment was also pressured by high oil prices, with Brent remaining above $100 per barrel.

Amid risk aversion, the yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds fell to 2.93%, its lowest level in about a month. The yen, which had traded near ¥159 per dollar the previous day, fell below ¥158 per dollar. The Nikkei 225 is more than 10% below its June record high of 72,831.73 points, but still about 35% higher than a year ago.