Japan Stocks Fell by Weak Season

Japanese stocks fell on Thursday as investors continued to shy away from risky bets amid a weak earnings season, but Toyota shares surged after unexpectedly avoided a loss last quarter.

The Nikkei fell 0.43% to 22,418.15 points, and technology and consumer goods stocks were the most declining.

The broader TOPIX index fell 0.31% to 1,549.88 points.

A series of profits and disappointing expectations from companies due to the Covid-19 pandemic affected the Japanese market in the previous few sessions.

Some analysts believe that the decline in corporate profits is at its lowest level and that profits will recover gradually.

Among the top 30 stocks on the index which recorded a worse performance than the market overall, was Honda Motor, which fell 6.31%, followed by East Japan Railway by 2.47%

Honda shares fell after the automaker expected a 68% drop in annual operating profit and posted its worst quarterly operating loss since the quarter ending March 2009.

Toyota Motor was the top gainer on the TOPIX, rising 2.29%. Toyota posted an operating profit of 13.9 billion yen ($ 131.73 million) in the three months ending in June, the worst result in nine years, but still better than expectations of a 179 billion yen loss.