The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average index declined 191.32 points, or 0.48%, to finish at 39,581.81. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange dropped 11.90 points, 0.43%, to 2,742.79.
Total 21 of 33 TSE sectors closed lower, with Insurance sector was bottom performer, down 1.74%, followed by Pharmaceutical (down 1.23%), Wholesale Trade (down 1.09%), and Machinery (down 1.02%), and Securities & Commodities Futures (down 1%) sectors, while Electric Power & Gas sector was top performer, rising 2.68%, followed by Nonferrous Metals (up 0.95%) sector.
Shares of export related companies were mixed, with Toyota falling 1.2% and Honda erasing 1.3%. Fast Retailing lost 1.7%.
ECONOMIC NEWS: Japan's producer prices were up 0.2% on month in March, unchanged from the February reading, the Bank of Japan or BoJ said on Wednesday. On a yearly basis, producer prices rose 0.8%, up from 0.7% in the previous month. Export prices rose 0.3% on month and 1% on year, while import prices stumbled 0.5% on month and 6.9% on year.
The BoJ also said the value of overall bank lending in Japan was up 3.2% on year in March, coming in at 619.566 trillion yen. That was up from 3% in February. For the first quarter of 2024, overall bank lending was up 3.1% on year.
CURRENCY NEWS: Japanese yen was little changed in the upper 151 range against greenback. At 5 p.m., the yen quoted at 151.72 per US dollar compared to 151.76 in Tokyo at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
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