TOKYO, Oct 12, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Tokyo’s key Nikkei index opened down one
percent on Friday, extending losses on global bourses amid lingering worries
about higher interest rates and trade wars.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which plunged 3.89 percent the previous
day, was down 1.06 percent, or 239.23 points, at 22,351.63 at the open, while
the broader Topix index was down 0.66 percent or 11.18 points at 1,690.68.
“Markets are finding themselves in a total state of discombobulation as we
mercifully head towards the weekend,” Stephen Innes, head of trading for Asia
Pacific at Oanda, said in a commentary ahead of the opening bell.
“There have been multiple train wrecks over the past 24 hours, and the
continuous wall of worry around US yields and US-China tension still weighs
on equity sentiment,” he said.
However a slow-down in the yen’s appreciation may offer some support to
Japanese shares in later trade, analysts in Tokyo said.
And around half an hour into trade, the index was down only 0.2 percent.
The dollar fetched 112.19 yen in early Asian trade, against 112.07 yen in
New York 112.17 yen in Tokyo late Thursday.
In individual stocks trade, banks were among the losers, with Mitsubish UFJ
Financial down 1.61 percent at 6,829 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial down
1.46 percent at 4,429 yen.