Nikkei 225 Declines Amid Yen Appreciation and BOJ Tightening Signals
Japanese shares ended the week lower as the yen strengthened against the dollar, sparking concerns about potential negative effects on Japanese equities and global assets.
The Nikkei 225 fell 0.68%, or 251.51 points, to 36,581.76.
The yen appreciated 0.3% to 141.88 per dollar, with persistent strength potentially dampening investor sentiment and impacting corporate earnings due to increased market volatility.
The yen's advance was also fueled by hawkish comments from Bank of Japan officials.
On Thursday, BOJ policymaker Naoki Tamura set a 1% interest rate target for the second half of next fiscal year, marking the first time a BOJ official has publicly specified a future benchmark for short-term rates and reinforcing the bank's commitment to monetary tightening.
In corporate news, Industrial & Infrastructure Fund Investment (TYO:3249) will acquire the IIF Hyogosanda Logistics Center II in Hyogo for 9.24 billion yen, set to close on January 8, 2025. The property, valued at 10.1 billion yen, will result in an unrealized gain of 860 million yen.
Sony Group (TYO:6758) and AI Singapore (AISG) have signed an MOU to develop SEA-LION large language models for Southeast Asian languages, aiming to improve the global AI representation of these regional languages.
Good Com Asset (TYO:3475) reported a 79.3% increase in profit to 1.62 billion yen for the nine months ending July 31, with EPS rising to 56.18 yen and net sales surging 136.2% to 33.99 billion yen.
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