Tokyo: Nikkei ends at 16-month low as surging oil price stokes slowdown worries

[TOKYO] Japan's Nikkei index closed at a 16-month low on Tuesday (Mar 8), as investors fretted that surging oil and other commodity prices would hurt corporate earnings and slow down economic growth.

The Nikkei share average fell 1.71 per cent to 24,790.95, its lowest close since Nov 6, 2020. The broader Topix lost 1.90 per cent to 1,759,86.

Wall Street's main indexes fell sharply overnight, with the Nasdaq Composite confirming it was in a bear market, as the prospect of a ban on oil imports from Russia sent crude prices soaring and fuelled concerns about rising inflation.

Oil prices see-sawed on Tuesday with Brent crude futures trading at US$125 per barrel, around 10 per cent below a 14-year high struck in the last session.

"Oil and other commodity prices rose and that raised investor concern about the global economic slowdown and pressure on corporate earnings," said Ikuo Mitsui, a fund manager at Aizawa Securities.

"Both the Nikkei and Topix have fallen to a level where investors see little downside risks. So, investors scooped up beaten-down stocks. But it is still hard to tell when the market will start making a rebound."

All the 33 industry sub-indexes on the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell, with refiners leading the declines with a drop of 6.31 per cent, followed by steel makers, which dropped 6.21 per cent.

Precision makers reversed course to fall 0.30 per cent.

Hoya and Terumo gave up most of the gains to end 0.92 per cent and 0.76 per cent higher, respectively.

Meanwhile, technology shares advanced, with air conditioner maker Daikin Industries rising 1.76 per cent and robot maker Fanuc gaining 1.14 per ent.

There were 26 advancers on the Nikkei index against 199 decliners.

The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's main board was 1.87 billion, compared to the average of 1.32 billion in the past 30 days. REUTERS