Japanese stocks fell on Thursday, as investor sentiment was damaged due to the dissipation of hopes for a new round of financial stimulus in the United States and the return of lockdown measures in some European countries due to the Corona outbreak and concerns about the strained Sino-US relations.
The benchmark Nikkei index closed 0.51% at 23,507.23 points, with the healthcare and telecommunications sectors leading the decline. The broader Topix index fell 0.74% to 1,631.79 points.
US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin said that reaching a compromise with the Democrats regarding fiscal stimulus is unlikely before the November 3rd presidential election, raising concerns about
The outlook for the economy suffering under the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.
SoftBank Group topped the list of low stocks among the 30 main stocks on the Topix index, declining 2.08%, followed by Takeda Pharmaceuticals, which fell 1.97%.
Murata Manufacturing was the top gainer among the 30 major stocks on the Topix index, up 1%, followed by Mitsubishi Corp., which gained 0.42%.
64 shares advanced on the Nikkei index, while 156 declined.