Tokyo (awp/afp) – The Tokyo Stock Exchange was moving backwards on Friday morning, torn between the fall in the yen, favorable to large Japanese exporting companies, and concerns about the magnitude of the Federal Reserve’s upcoming monetary tightening. US (Fed).
The Nikkei index of 225 Japanese star stocks yielded 0.07% to 26,625.62 points around 01:00 GMT and the broader Topix index dropped 0.52% to 1,883.35 points.
The Japanese currency deepened its plunge against the dollar on Thursday, reaching new lows since 1998, which “constitutes a short-term tailwind” for the Japanese market, Okasan Online Securities commented in a note.
The market, the firm added, is nonetheless cautious on the eve of a three-day weekend in Japan, and ahead of the expected release later in the day of U.S. retail sales data for June. which if higher than expected could induce the Fed to raise rates more significantly.
Today’s Values
FAST RETAILING: the ready-to-wear giant Fast Retailing saw its title jump 6.94% to 75,000 yen. The operator of Uniqlo stores on Thursday significantly raised its objectives for its 2021/22 financial year which will end at the end of August, thanks to robust performance in its third quarter and the sharp depreciation of the yen.
TOYOTA: the world’s leading automaker Toyota (+0.04% to 2,136 yen), which is due to unveil the new model in its Crown range in Japan on Friday, has according to information from the daily Nikkei decided to postpone its sale to autumn due to a shortage of parts due to the containment measures in Shanghai between April and June.
On the side of oil and currencies
The oil market was back in the green on Friday morning in Asia: around 00:50 GMT the price of a barrel of American WTI gained 0.58% to 96.34 dollars and that of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea rose by 0.7% at $99.79.
On the foreign exchange market, the yen rose slightly against the dollar, which was worth 138.87 yen around 01:00 GMT against 138.96 yen Thursday at 21:00 GMT.
The European currency was stable at 139.17 yen against 139.21 yen the day before, and one euro traded for 1.0021 dollar against 1.0018 dollar Thursday at 9:00 p.m. GMT.
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