The Nikkei Index fell 681 points or 1.3% in the half-day trading of Asian stocks, with wire and metal stocks declining, and Tokyo Electric Power Company dropping over 6%

AASTOCKS
2026.03.16 03:10

Japanese stocks fell in the morning session, with Brent oil prices remaining high above $100. The market is concerned about the risks of a global economic downturn, and investors are watching the monetary policy meetings of the central banks in the US, Europe, and Japan this week, worrying that the central banks may adopt a "hawkish" stance, putting pressure on Japanese stocks. The Nikkei average opened down 191 points, initially rising 163 points to a high of 53,983 points before retreating, at one point dropping 705 points to a low of 53,113 points, and closing down 681 points or 1.3% at 53,138 points.

In the artificial intelligence and semiconductor sectors, SoftBank (9984.JP) and Tokyo Electron (8035.JP) fell by 0.7% and 0.2%, respectively, while Advantest (6857.JP) and Disk (6146.JP) dropped by 1.3% and 1.6%. Raytech (6920.JP) fell by 2.3%, while memory stock Kioxia (285A.JP) rose by 1.4%. In the wire sector, Furukawa Electric (5801.JP) and Fujikura (5803.JP) fell by 6.7%, and Sumitomo Electric (5802.JP) fell by 4.4%.

In the heavy industry sector, Kawasaki Heavy Industries (7012.JP) and IHI (7013.JP) fell by 3.5% and 2.2%, respectively. In the metals sector, JX Metals (5016.JP) and Mitsui Mining & Smelting (5706.JP) fell by 4% and 3.6%, while Sumitomo Metal Mining (5713.JP) fell by 5.3%. In the rare earth concept, Mitsui Ocean Development (6269.JP) rose by 4.6%.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (9501.JP) fell by 6.2%, as Unit 6 of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant was suspended, delaying commercial operations. In other stocks, Fast Retailing (9983.JP) fell by 1%, Toyota (7203.JP) fell by 1.2%, Honda (7267.JP) and Nissan (7201.JP) fell by 2.2% and 3.2%, respectively. Panasonic (6752.JP) fell by 2.3%, and Ryohin Keikaku (7453.JP) fell by 3.8%. Trading companies Itochu (8001.JP) and Mitsubishi Corporation (8058.JP) fell by 2% and 1.9%, respectively. Bank stocks Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.JP) fell by 1.6%, and department store company Mitsukoshi Isetan (3099.JP) fell by 3%.

The exchange rate of the US dollar against the Japanese yen is 159.58

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