Tokyo shares falling ahead of US inflation data

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
9 Aug 2022 11:36

Japan's economy is in a ditch as traders await key US inflation data set to be presented the next day.

The Japan Stock Exchange Group.

Tokyo closed lower on Tuesday after Wall Street tech shares fell, as traders awaited key US inflation data which were to be presented the next day.

Nikkei 225, a benchmark index, lost 0.88 percent - or 249.28 points, landing at 27,999.96. Furthermore, the Topix index fell 0.74 percent, or 14.39 points, falling to 1,937.02.

"Investors have a wait-and-see attitude ahead of the US consumer prices index announcement. Softer share prices across Asia, except for the Shanghai index, also dampened market sentiment," Okasan Online Securities said.

The US dollar stood at 135.07 yen, in comparison to 134.98 yen reported on Monday.

Benchmark Nikkei performed a lower nosedive after prominent companies SoftBank Group and Tokyo Electron reported disappointing earnings between April and June quarter.

SoftBank Group reported a quarterly net loss of $23.4 billion, decreasing 7.02 percent, landing at 5,295 yen.

Semi-conductor tool manufacturer Tokyo Electron fell 8.24 percent to 45,600 yen. Advantest, which makes microchip testing kits, dropped 3.10 percent, landing at 8,420 yen.

Sony Group lost 2.47 percent to 11,435 yen while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing climbed 1.49 percent to 85,110 yen.

Tokyo, with its sanctions against Russia and its allegiance to Washington and NATO, has been experiencing economic fallbacks.

US inflation destabilizes market

The US has been grappling with high interest rates. According to the Federal Reserve last month, high inflation could become rooted in the US economy.

The US central bank has already indicated that it had plans to hike interest rates on loans last month, but it is looking like the Fed is more likely to increase the aggressiveness of its policies put in place to combat inflation. That would drastically affect the national economy and increase the chances of recession.

Last month, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 700 points below 30,000 for the first time in over a year, emphasizing plummeting US stocks.

Japan faces soaring price hikes as yen depreciates

Japanese newspaper Nikkei reported last month that 60% of food products in Japan have been affected by soaring inflation as a result of rising materials costs and the yen's rapid depreciation.

The Teikoku Databank Ltd. survey found that of the 1,701 firms surveyed in May, 68.5% plan to implement price hike plans. As many as 102 Japanese food producers were intending to raise prices or have already done so for 15,000 types of products. It is also reported that prices for 60 food products in 470 supermarkets increased across the country, the most affected being seed oil (by 12%), and mayonnaise (by 15%), with another 12 categories rising by 5%, according to the database.

The survey also indicates a decrease in the average receipt amount for 20 out of 37 food products, which account for 54% of the total number of food products affected by the growing prices due to the fact that salaries are not being indexed relative to the change in prices.

Some Japanese companies opted to decrease the size of their product to avoid changing prices, but if raw material costs continue to rise, price hikes will be inevitable in the coming months, according to a survey published by the think tank in May.