Japan’s Nikkei Hits a 3-Week Low Because of The Fed And China

Japan’s Nikkei fell on Thursday to a three-week low as investors worried about expectations of faster monetary policy tightening in the United States, the war in Ukraine, and COVID-19-related lockdown measures in China.

The Nikkei fell 1.69 percent, the biggest decline since March 11, to close at 26,888.57 points, the lowest closing level since March 18.

The shares of chipmakers led to the losses, and the shares of car companies incurred significant losses.

The broader Topix index fell 1.56% to 1,892.90 points.

The share of Tokyo Electron, the electronic chip maker, fell 5.45 percent, as it followed the path of the shares of American chip makers that suffered losses in the evening, and it was the most declining in percentage terms on the Nikkei index and the largest stock influencing the index. Advantest shares fell 5.44 percent.

Honda shares fell 4.31 percent after Mizuho lowered its recommendation for the stock to “hold” and lowered its target price.

Toyota shares fell 0.98 percent and Nissan shares 1.53 percent.

Shares of Fast Retailing, which owns clothing store Uniqlo, fell 3.36 percent, Sony shares fell 3.14 percent, and Soft Group shares fell 1.99 percent.

On the other hand, the health care sector recorded a better performance than the rest of the market sectors, and Astellas Pharma rose by 5.8 percent, and it was the largest increase in percentage terms on the Nikkei index.