Nikkei closes at its lowest level in two weeks

Japan’s Nikkei index closed at a two-week low on Monday, tracking losses on Wall Street after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said tightening US monetary policy would be necessary “for some time” to curb inflation.

The Nikkei index closed down 2.66 percent at 27878.96 points, with 202 down from 225 shares in the index, with 20 gaining and three holding.

Industrial stocks were the biggest losers, followed by stocks on the technology sub-index. The energy sector was the only one that made gains, supported by higher crude oil prices.

The broader Topix index fell 1.79 percent to 1944.10.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 3.37 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively, on Friday.

The biggest loser on the Nikkei was Fast Retailing, which fell 2.8 percent, or 84 points.

It was followed by Tokyo Electron, which fell 82 points, down 5.1 percent. Bear Adventist shares lost 4.19 percent.

SoftBank Group shares fell 44 points, or 3.66 percent.

Among the gainers were some automakers, as the yen’s drop to its lowest level in more than a month against the dollar boosted its foreign sales revenue.

Isuzu, Mazda and Subaru shares rose 2.24 percent, 0.99 percent and 0.78 percent, respectively.

But Toyota and Nissan shares fell 0.85 percent and 0.69 percent, respectively. Honda shares compensated for losses in early trading, rising 0.41 percent.