Japan’s Nikkei records its largest weekly losses since mid-September

The Japanese Nikkei index fell at the end of the trading session on Friday, December 8th, and recorded its largest weekly losses since mid-September.

At the end of the session, the Nikkei index fell by about 1.68% to 32,307 points, recording weekly losses of 3.36%, but it is still up by about 24% this year.

The Nikkei’s losses came due to speculation that the Bank of Japan is close to ending its monetary easing cycle.

The rise of the Japanese yen led to losses for car manufacturers and export companies. It was not good news for Toyota’s subsidiaries, as the shares of JTEKT, a spare parts manufacturer, fell by 4.98%, and the logistics arm of Toyota Tsusho, by 4.88%, while Denso shares fell by 4.51%.

Of the 225 stocks listed on the Nikkei index, 189 stocks declined and 34 stocks increased, while two stocks stabilized.

On the other hand, banking stocks witnessed increases driven by speculation about the end of very low bond yields in light of expectations that the monetary easing cycle will soon end.