Japanese Market Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese market is trading sharply lower on Friday, snapping a three-session winning streak, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 63,100 level, with weakness in index heavyweights, financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 1,560.40 points or 2.41 percent to 63,099.07, after hitting a low of 63,060.14 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is tumbling more than 6 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining more than 2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging down 0.3 percent, while Honda is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is tumbling almost 9 percent and Tokyo Electron is slipping almost 5 percent, while Screen Holdings is plunging almost 8 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are losing more than 1 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is declining almost 3 percent.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic are losing more than 4 percent each, while Sony is gaining almost 2 percent and Canon is edging up 0.3 percent.

Among other major losers, Fujitsu plummeting almost 16 percent, Ibiden is plunging more than 15 percent and Lasertec is tumbling almost 12 percent, while Kioxia Holdings and Murata Manufacturing are sliding more than 9 percent each. Tokyo Electric Power, Taiyo Yuden, TDK and Kokusai Electric are slipping more than 7 percent each. Chubu Electric Power, Resonac Holdings and Sumco are declining almost 7 percent each, while Mitsui Kinzoku is losing more than 6 percent.

Conversely, Konami Group is soaring more than 18 percent and Oriental Land is jumping more than 7 percent, while ANA Holdings, Capcom and BANDAI NAMCO are surging more than 6 percent each. Nomura Research Institute is advancing almost 6 percent, while Shiseido and Nitori Holdings are advancing almost 5 percent each. Nippon Yusen K.K. and Ryohin Keikaku are adding more than 4 percent each. Dentsu Group, Japan Airlines, NEXON, BayCurrent and Toho are up more than 3 percent each.

In economic news, the Bank of Japan will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Friday and then announce its decision on interest rates. The BoJ is expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 1.25 percent.

Retail sales in Japan advanced 2.3 percent on year in September 2026, below market expectations for a 3.3 percent rise and easing from an upwardly revised 2.9 percent increase in the previous month, marking the slowest growth in three months. It was the seventh consecutive month of growth in retail sales. On a monthly basis, retail sales dropped 0.7 percent in September, following a revised 0.9 percent fall in August, marking the second consecutive monthly decline.

Japan's unemployment rate edged down to 2.4 percent in September 2026, below market expectations and August's figure of 2.5 percent. The number of unemployed fell by 100 thousand to 1.67 million, while employment increased by 340 thousand to a four-month high of 68.68 million. Meanwhile, the jobs-to-applicants ratio rose to 1.19 from 1.18 in each of the previous three months, exceeding consensus of 1.18.

Core consumer prices in Tokyo's central wards increased 2.6 percent on year in October 2026, following a 2.7 percent rise in September and in line with expectations. It was the first deceleration in five months, following the fastest increase since November 2025 in September.

Japan's industrial production increased by 2.2 percent month-over-month in September 2026, reversing a 2.4 percent decline in the previous month and surpassing market estimates of 1.3 percent, preliminary data showed. It was the fastest growth since January. On an annual basis, production rose 1.9 percent, down from 2.7 percent in August, marking the softest growth in four months.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 157 yen-range on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved lower during trading on Thursday, after trending higher over the past few sessions. The tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a particularly steep drop on the day.

The Nasdaq tumbled 365.13 points or 1.4 percent to 26,184.72, giving back ground after surging by 2.3 percent over the three previous sessions. The S&P 500 also dipped 23.59 points or 0.3 percent to 7,720.39, while the Dow fell 132.54 points or 0.3 percent to 52,342.56.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index shot up by 1.1 percent and the German DAX Index surged by 1.3 percent.

Crude oil prices moved lower on Thursday on expectations of a possible de-escalation in the U.S.-Iran conflict as Qatar presses Iran to negotiate with the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $0.79 or 0.77 percent at $101.99 per barrel.