Tokyo (awp/afp) – The Tokyo Stock Exchange started on Monday without real direction, between on the one hand concerns linked to the Russian-Ukrainian war and the tightening of containment in Shanghai, and on the other employment figures in the United States reassuring about American growth.
The flagship Nikkei index fell by 0.13% to 27,629.96 points shortly before 01:00 GMT while the broader Topix index was stable (+0.03% to 1,944.80 points).
A reform of the market segments of the Tokyo Stock Exchange came into force on Monday, the most important for decades but of a rather symbolic scope.
From five segments previously, the Tokyo market has grown to three: the first section (Prime), a “Standard” section and a section grouping young companies (“Growth”).
This overhaul aims to simplify the organization of the market and make it more attractive to foreign investors. But it is far from living up to expectations, being more cosmetic than anything else.
On the side of values
PANASONIC: the Panasonic title climbed 0.46% to 1,185 yen. The technology group announced on Friday an investment equivalent to 4.4 billion euros over the next three years in “growth sectors”, such as electric batteries for automobiles or automated management of supply chains.
On the side of oil and currencies
Oil was down: around 00:40 GMT the price of a barrel of American WTI lost 0.8% to 98.48 dollars and that of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea lost 0.73% to 103.63 dollars.
The yen rose slightly against the dollar, at the rate of one dollar for 122.35 yen around 12:50 a.m. GMT against 122.52 yen on Friday at 9:00 p.m. GMT.
The euro/yen rate followed the same trend, one euro trading for 135.16 yen against 135.29 at the end of last week.
The European currency was almost stable against the greenback, one euro trading for 1.1049 dollars against 1.1043 dollars on Friday at 9:00 p.m. GMT.
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