Nikkei Falls, Yen Cautious for Markets
Japanese stocks closed lower on Friday, as the yen continued to fluctuate and market participants opted to hedge against risk amid uncertainty surrounding the midterm elections and ahead of next week's Bank of Japan (BOJ) policy meeting. The Nikkei 225 index fell 0.32%, or 174.33 points, to 53,936.17.
The yen briefly touched 159.45—its weakest level in 18 months—this week, fueled by speculation that the midterm elections could open up more fiscal spending space. On Friday, the yen returned to around 158 per dollar, with the market watching to see whether the BOJ would provide any new signals regarding interest rate direction at next week's meeting.
On the issuer side, several stocks actually gained. Japan Wool Textile rose about 5% after reporting a 1.3% increase in profit attributable to owners to 9.09 billion yen and a 3.4% increase in net sales to 119.4 billion yen. Oro rose 2.2% after reporting that active licenses for its ZAC cloud service reached 353,000 in December. Meanwhile, Aeon Fantasy rose about 3% after domestic operating income rose 11% to 6.86 billion yen, despite declining overseas sales due to weakness in ASEAN and China. (az)
Source: Newsmaker.id
