Japanese shares trade sharply lower as Middle East tension rises

Lawson

16/10/2023 04:03

TOKYO, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Japanese shares traded sharply
lower on Monday, dragged by chip-related shares, with risk
appetite being hurt as tensions in the Middle East escalated.
    The Nikkei index  .N225  fell 1.64% to 31,786.78 by the
midday break, while the broader Topix  .TOPX  lost 1.28% to
2,279.29.
    "As risks for the Middle East rose, investors braced for
further declines in markets and cut their long positions in
stocks," said Takehiko Masuzawa, head of trading at Phillip
Securities Japan.
    The Nikkei 225 volatility index  .JNIV  jumped 4.29%, the
most since Oct. 4 when the Nikkei lost 2.3% in its biggest daily
decline in two months. 
    On Friday, the S&P 500  .SPX  and the Nasdaq  .IXIC  fell as
deteriorating consumer sentiment data and the Middle East
conflict soured investors on riskier bets. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average  .DJI  inched up 0.12%.
    Heavyweight chip-related stocks fell, tracking U.S.
technology stocks, with Tokyo Electron  8035.T  and Advantest
 6857.T  falling 3.18% and 4.53%, respectively.
    Technology start-up investor SoftBank Group  9984.T  slipped
1.38%. 
    Bucking the trend, Lawson  2651.T  jumped 3.1% after raising
its annual profit forecast on robust performance at its
convenience stores. 
    Ryohin Keikaku  7453.T  surged 11.48% after the operator of
retail outlet brand Muji reported an annual profit forecast that
beat market consensus.  
    All but three of 33 industry sub-indexes on the Tokyo Stock
Exchange fell. 
    Energy explorers  .IMING.T  jumped 3.02% to become the top
performer among the sub-indexes, with Inpex  1605.T  jumping
3.2% to become the top performer on the Nikkei. 
    Refiners  .IPETE.t  rose 1.6%, with Eneos Holdings  5020.T 
rising 2.33%. 
   

 (Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
 ((junko.fujita@thomsonreuters.com;))