Japan’s Nikkei falls by more than 1%

The Japanese Nikkei index fell more than 1 percent on Friday, to record its first loss in the last six sessions, and caused more than two-thirds of the decline in Fast Retailing, owner of Uniqlo.

Japanese stocks are also under pressure from the yen’s rise to a seven-month high, as traders bet the Bank of Japan will adopt more policy adjustments at next week’s meeting, less than a month after the sudden expansion of the yield range on Japanese government bonds. for ten years.

The Nikkei ended Friday’s session down 1.25 percent, equivalent to 330.30 points, to 26,119.52 points.

Fast Retailing was the biggest pressure factor on the index, as it fell 7.95 percent and knocked out the equivalent of 217.36 points from the Nikkei, after announcing disappointing financial results on Thursday after the markets closed.

The broader Topix index closed down 0.27 percent, at 1903.08 points.

The Nikkei managed to hold on on a weekly basis, posting a weekly gain of 0.56 percent, after falling for four consecutive weeks prior to that.

Topix achieved a weekly rise of 1.46 percent, which is also its first weekly gain in five weeks.

Shares of exporting companies fell, as the appreciation of the yen reduced the value of foreign revenues. Toyota shares lost 2.26 percent, and Nintendo shares fell 0.92 percent.

The yen touched its strongest level against the dollar since May 31, at 128.44.

Financial stocks benefited from the speculation, as the sub-index of banks on the Tokyo Stock Exchange jumped 2.98 percent.