Oil and rate concerns trigger broad selling
Japanese stocks fell sharply on October 8, with the Nikkei losing 993.60 points. IwaiCosmo Securities reported that the U.S. 10-year yield had reached 5.36% the previous day. Oil prices and concerns about talks with Iran added pressure. With borrowing and input costs both in focus, taking profits looked more attractive than holding stocks near their highs.
The Nikkei and TOPIX charts show declines after the opening bell and only limited morning rebounds. Selling extended to banks and resource companies, while TOPIX lost more in percentage terms than the Nikkei. This was broader than a chip-sector correction: persistent rate concerns and worries about the economy weighed across the market.
The afternoon rebound gives way to another decline
Both indexes recovered in the afternoon, then fell by roughly 0.5% from the latter part of the 2 p.m. hour into the close, in Japan time. TSMC’s official calendar scheduled its September sales release for 1:30 p.m. in Taiwan, or 2:30 p.m. in Japan. IwaiCosmo reported that the month-on-month decline in the afternoon release added to late selling. The failed rebound after the scheduled release suggests that strong expectations for chip demand had made the market sensitive even to a modest slowdown.
Buying on weakness also lacked momentum ahead of the following day’s special quotation settlement. The Nikkei finished at its session low, and more than three-quarters of TSE Prime stocks declined. Gains in some companies with strong earnings could not reverse the broader retreat. USD/JPY recovered from an earlier dip, but that did not arrest the late equity decline.
Major Index Closes
- Nikkei 22569,042.11 −1.42%
- TOPIX4,091.46 −1.51%
