Stock movements
The indicator decreased Nikki At the close, it increased by 0.6 percent to 37,913.92 points, recording a weekly loss of 2.7 percent..
The broader Topix index fell 0.7 percent to 2,618.32 points.
The markets are witnessing a state of tension due to recent opinion polls indicating that voters may end the dominance of the Free Democratic Party that has lasted for more than ten years in the elections scheduled for Sunday, which will force the ruling party to enter into power-sharing deals that would destabilize the leadership in the country..
Naka Matsuzawa, chief macroeconomist at Nomura Securities, said investors are considering how such an outcome would impact the fiscal and monetary outlook..
The losses were widespread due to investors making changes in their investments on Friday, the last trading day before the counting of electoral votes on October 27..
Of the 225 stocks on the Nikkei index, 176 fell while only 48 rose, with one stock remaining untraded..
All 33 sub-sectors declined, led by the shipping sector, which fell 3.6 percent.
The head of multi-asset investments is expected to… China BNP Paribas’s Wei Li says Japanese markets may react positively if the Liberal Democratic Party and its partner Komeito Party obtain a simple majority.
But if this does not happen, the markets may see increased volatility.
Advantest, a maker of chip testing equipment, fell 2.9 percent, putting the biggest pressure on the Nikkei index..
Shares of Fast Retailing, which owns the Uniqlo clothing brand, fell 0.7 percent, while Recruit Holdings, a recruitment agency, fell 2.4 percent, and Konami Group, a video game maker, fell 2.8 percent..
Sumitomo Pharma shares fell 6.3 percent, recording the largest percentage loss on the Nikkei index, followed by a decline in the shares of shipping companies “Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha” by 4.3 percent and Nippon Yusen by 3.8 percent.
