INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
TOKYO: Japan's Nikkei hit a nine-day low on Thursday as resurgent global recession fears triggered a Wall Street slide and sent the
safe-haven yen higher, weighing heavily on the country's export firms.
The Nikkei share average ended the day down 1.21 per cent at
During the day, it touched 20,184.85, its lowest since Aug
6.
All three major US indexes closed down about 3 per cent on Wednesday, with the blue-chip Dow posting its biggest one-day point drop since
October, after the US Treasury yield curve temporarily inverted for the first time in 12 years -considered a classic recession
signal.
"Market confidence has already been deteriorating steadily due to the ongoing US-China trade conflict and the Treasury yield curve
inversion looks to have pushed sentiment over the edge," said Yoshinori Shigemi, global market strategist at JP Morgan Asset
Management.
Shares of Japanese exporters retreated as the safe-haven yen strengthened against the dollar due to the widespread risk
aversion.
Toyota Motor Corp fell 0.9 per cent, Honda Motor Co dropped 1.4 per cent, Panasonic shed 2.6 per cent and Bridgestone Corp was
down 1.1 per cent.
Financial institutions also took a hit, as the sharp drop in bond yields was seen hurting their profitability
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group lost 1.1 per cent, Mizuho Financial Group retreated 0.5 per cent and Dai-ichi Life Holdings sank 1.6 per
cent.
Energy-related shares declined as crude oil prices fell on the back of global recession concerns
Refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co dropped 1.9 per cent and natural gas and oil developer Inpex Corp pulled back 1.8 per cent.
The few gaining stocks
included robotics company Cyberdyne Inc, which rallied 4.9 per cent after its April-June pretax profit returned to the black with its
medical robotic suits finding demand at home and abroad.
The broader Topix was down 1.04 per cent at 1,483.85.
Declining shares outnumbered
gainers by 1,812 to 272.
All of Tokyo's 33 sub-indexes were in the red, with oil and coal products and precision machinery the biggest