Japan Stocks fall on COVID-19 variant concerns

Japan stock market finished session lower on Tuesday, 29 June 2021, as concerns grew that the economic recovery will slow due to a rapid rise in COVID-19 Delta variant cases.

At closing bell, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average was down 235.41 points, or 0.81%, to 28,812.61. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 16.19 points, or 0.82%, to 1,949.48.

Trading volume turnover in the 1st section decreased to 870 million shares from 904 million shares in previous session. Trading value turnover decreased to 1,968.09 billion yen from 2,142.25 billion yen in previous session.

Total 30 of 33 sectors sub-indexes on the Tokyo exchange ended lower, with worst performers were Mining (down 4.5%), Iron & Steel (down 2.7%), Glass & Ceramics Products (down 2.4%), Rubber Products (down 2.2%), Nonferrous Metals (down 2.1%), Air Transportation (down 1.9%), Oil & Coal Products (down 1.9%), and Banks (down 1.7%) issues.

The concern over the coronavirus variant offset the positive impact of the recent acceleration of vaccinations. Investors were also concerned that the Tokyo Olympics could lead to a spike in infections in Japan.

Participants also kept a close eye on the upcoming release of the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) Tankan business sentiment survey and the release of major US economic data, including the consumer confidence data, a private jobs report and a crucial monthly employment report due later this week for directional cues.

Among individual stocks, Dentsu share rose after announcing plans to sell its headquarters building in Tokyo.

SoftBank Group shares dropped after the firm said it had suspended production of its humanoid robot Pepper.

Nissan and Toyota both declined as a delay in shipments of semiconductors are weighing on auto productions.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Japan Jobless Rate Rises To 3% In May- Japan's unemployment rate rose to 3% in May 2021 from 2.8% a month earlier, hitting the highest level in five months, government data showed on Tuesday. This was the highest reading since December 2020. A year earlier, the unemployment rate was at 2.8%. Meantime, the jobs-to-application ratio was at 1.09 in May, unchanged from the prior month and compared with consensus of 1.08.

CURRENCY NEWS: The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 91.96 off levels above 92.1 seen earlier in the month. The Japanese yen traded at 110.53 per dollar, stronger than levels above 110.8 seen yesterday against the greenback.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News