Nikkei records its first weekly decline in 5 weeks, under pressure from technology stocks

Japan’s Nikkei index fell at the close on Friday, also recording its first weekly decline in five weeks, with technology companies’ shares falling due to a rise in bond yields following economic data that provided additional evidence that the US central bank may end raising interest rates.

The Nikkei ended trading down 0.17 percent, recording 33,431.51 points, and also lost 0.58 percent during the week.

The technology sector is the only one that fell on the Nikkei. Of the 225 stocks, 97 declined, 125 rose, and three stabilized.

The broader Topix index, which is less focused on technology companies, rose 0.32 percent today, but fell 0.35 percent during the week.

Long-term Japanese bond yields rose 3.5 basis points to 0.705 percent on Friday, tracking an overnight recovery in US Treasury bond yields after recording sharp declines over three days.

The index recorded its best monthly performance in three years in November and touched a 33-year peak on November 20, recording 33,853.46 points, but the momentum declined after that.

Four of the top five stocks falling on Friday on the Nikkei were technology companies.

SoftBank Group’s shares for investment in emerging companies fell by 1.66 percent, Tokyo Electron, a manufacturer of chip manufacturing equipment, fell by 0.73 percent, Advantest, a manufacturer of chip testing equipment, fell by 1.26 percent, and TDK shares fell by 1.57 percent.

The fifth heavyweight stock that declined was the stock of Fast Retailing, which owns the Uniqlo brand, as it fell 1.04 percent.

As for car manufacturers, they derived support from the yen’s overnight decline from its highest levels in several weeks against the dollar. Toyota and Honda shares achieved gains of approximately 1.4 percent each.