Tokyo: Stocks open 1.65% lower on banking worries
TOKYO stocks opened sharply lower on Thursday as jitters over capital and liquidity levels at Credit Suisse deepened investors’ fears over the health of the banking sector.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 1.65 per cent, or 449.80 points, at 26,779.68 in early trade, while the broader Topix index lost 1.59 per cent, or 31.21 points, to 1,928.91.
“Japanese shares are expected to start with losses as concern over the instability of the financial system grows,” Monex senior market analyst Toshiyuki Kanayama said.
Major US indices spent most of Wednesday deep in the red, as shares in Switzerland’s second-biggest bank nosedived to historic lows after its main shareholder said it would not invest any more money.
But the Nasdaq index popped into positive territory at the end of the day after the Swiss National Bank said Credit Suisse had adequate capital, but that it was ready to make liquidity available to the institution if needed.
The dollar fetched 132.57 yen in early Asian trade, against 133.43 yen in New York late Tuesday.
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Investment giant SoftBank Group was down 3.96 per cent at 4,772 yen and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group plunged 4.97 per cent to 818.7 yen.
Brokerage Nomura Holdings tumbled 4.73 per cent at 485.9 yen.
Toyota was off 2.43 per cent at 1,768 yen, and Sony Group was down 1.94 per cent at 11,100 yen.
Japan booked a trade deficit of 897.7 billion yen (S$9 billion) in February, due partly to high fuel costs, according to data released by the finance ministry 10 minutes before the opening bell. The data did not prompt a strong market reaction. AFP
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