Nikkei eases on auto export slump, geopolitical tensions

  • Reuters
  • Stock Market News
Nikkei eases on auto export slump, geopolitical tensions
Credit: © Reuters.

TOKYO, June 17 (Reuters) - Japanese shares fell on Wednesday as automakers dragged on weak export data, while escalating tensions between North Korea and South Korea also doused the market sentiment.

The benchmark Nikkei average .N225 fell 0.74% to 22,414.50 by the midday break, while the broader Topix lost 0.50% to 1,585.51. The index had posted its biggest intraday percentage gain in three months in the previous session.

Japan's exports shrank to the lowest levels in a decade as shipments of automobile to the United States slumped. This offset optimism around an overnight rally on Wall Street, where all three major U.S. stocks hitting third consecutive daily gains. MKTS/GLOB of export-oriented automakers underperformed, with Mazda Motor 7261.T dropping 4.73%, Hino Motors 7205.T down 4.39% and Isuzu Motors 7202.T falling 4.11%.

Investors were also rattled by escalating tensions between North Korea and South Korea after North Korea demolished an inter-Korean liaison office and rejected an offer by South Korea to send special envoys, vowing to send troops back to the border. the Nikkei index, there were 28 advancers against 192 decliners.

As concerns about the coronavirus progress resurfaced, highly cyclical airlines .IAIRL.T went down 2.19% and iron and steel .ISTEL.T dropped 1.83%.

Bucking the overall market's weakness, SoftBank Group 9984.T advanced 3.93% after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Japanese technology company plans to sell "a significant portion" of its stake in T-Mobile TMUS.O to controlling shareholder Deutsche Telekom AG DTEGn.DE . Pharmaceutical Co Ltd 4541.T , a generic pharmaceutical manufacturer that sells dexamethasone, gained 3.91% after a preliminary trial results in the United Kingdom showed that this steroid drug reduced death rates by around a third among the most severely ill COVID-19 patients. the startup market, the Mothers Index .MTHR climbed 2.14%.

Add Chart to Comment

Comment Guidelines

We encourage you to use comments to engage with users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind: 

  • Enrich the conversation
  • Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
  • Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically.
  •  Use standard writing style. Include punctuation and upper and lower cases.
  • NOTE: Spam and/or promotional messages and links within a comment will be removed
  • Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user.
  • Don’t Monopolize the Conversation. We appreciate passion and conviction, but we also believe strongly in giving everyone a chance to air their thoughts. Therefore, in addition to civil interaction, we expect commenters to offer their opinions succinctly and thoughtfully, but not so repeatedly that others are annoyed or offended. If we receive complaints about individuals who take over a thread or forum, we reserve the right to ban them from the site, without recourse.
  • Only English comments will be allowed.

Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.

Drop an image here or Supported formats: *.jpg, *.png, *.gif up to 5mb

Error: File type not supported

Drop an image here or

100
Please try another search