Tokyo (awp / afp) – The Tokyo Stock Exchange was down slightly on Tuesday morning, as conflicting messages on the Russian-Ukrainian crisis abounded the day before, and while the rebound in Japanese GDP in the fourth quarter was slightly disappointing.
After a start in the green, the Nikkei index of 225 Japanese star stocks lost 0.2% to 27,026.26 points around 1:10 a.m. GMT and the broader Topix index yielded 0.12% to 1,928.40 points.
Western countries and Russia said on Monday there was still a diplomatic chance to avert a war in Ukraine, but Washington said Moscow had again increased its forces on the country’s borders in recent days and moved its Kiev embassy in Lviv, near the Polish border. “Military action could occur at any time,” the Pentagon said.
Wall Street ended Monday down slightly after a very volatile session.
Investors in Japan were also digesting preliminary data on the growth of the Japanese economy in the fourth quarter, published just before the opening of the Stock Exchange.
GDP rebounded by 1.3% over one quarter thanks to an upturn in household consumption, but this increase is slightly lower than the median forecast of the consensus of economists from the Bloomberg agency (+1.5%). Furthermore, Japanese GDP is likely to fall back slightly in the first quarter of 2022 under the effect of the Omicron wave.
On the side of values
RAKUTEN STILL IN THE RED: the title of the Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten slipped 1.92% to 966 yen. The group published the day before a net loss in 2021 for a third consecutive year, and its accounts in the fourth quarter were once again severely affected by its massive investments in its own mobile telephone network in Japan, an activity which is not still not profitable.
On the side of currencies and oil
Safe haven, the yen appreciated against the dollar, at the rate of one dollar for 115.36 yen around 01:00 GMT against 115.54 yen Monday at 21:00 GMT.
The Japanese currency also rose against the euro, which was worth 130.52 yen against 130.64 yen the day before.
One euro traded for 1.1312 dollars against 1.1307 dollars on Monday at 9:00 p.m. GMT.
The oil market was catching its breath, after jumping on Monday at signs of a possible imminent Russian attack on Ukraine. Around 00:55 GMT the price of a barrel of American WTI fell 0.7% to 94.79 dollars.
etb/rock