By
Temitope Olatunji
March 28th, 2024
As the global economic downturn continues, especially with headwinds in China, the Nikkei 225 recorded a big weekly loss as stocks fell.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 index has seen its largest weekly loss in eight months. On Friday, the Nikkei average posted the loss following problems stemming from the outlook on the Chinese economy.
For the week ending Friday, the Nikkei loss came in at 3.1%, the biggest weekly loss since the week that ended on Friday, December 23. The plunge is the third session of loss caused by worry about the Chinese economy, according to Daiwa Securities senior strategist Shuji Hosoi. According to the strategist:
“The Japanese market slipped for the same reasons as the past few sessions – concerns about China’s economy and rising global yields. Japanese equities are easily affected by overseas cues as there are no market moving catalysts at the moment.”
According to GCI Asset Management senior portfolio manager Takamasa Ikeda, the Nikkei has peaked as foreign investors are no longer buying as much since July.
Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing fell 1.15%, while department store business Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings lost 3.77%. The worst performance came from J.Front Retailing, which fell 4.31%. Other stock losses include Fujikura Ltd losing 3.99% to 1,143.00
On the other hand, companies like Tokyo Electron gained 0.68%, while Advantest rose 1.54%, both lending support to the Nikkei. There also was the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd up 1.68% to 7,576.00, and Ebara Corp’s 159-point increase, or 2.32%, to 6,999.00. Kuraray Co., Ltd. climbed 3.4% to 1,537.50, the best performance for the session.
Nikkei Loss Seems Continuous and Has Set Pace for Similar Plunges in Other Indexes
Last month, Coinspeaker reported a fifth straight loss in the Nikkei. Even though the index rose 27% the week before, it fell below the 25-day moving average for the first time in three months. Individual stocks like Honda and Nissan lost 1.72% and 2.55%, respectively. Yaskawa Electric Corporation posted the biggest loss at 3.44%.
The Nikkei 225 has been retracing from highs in June and cannot yet be sure of a rebound. DailyFX noted that for the first time since March, the Nikkei 225 fell below the 100-day simple moving average (SMA). The analysis predicts that the Nikkei 225 could find some support around 30,963. Anything lower could cause the index to struggle with the 200-day SMA.
There were also similar losses recorded in other regions. For instance, Australia’s ASX 200 fell 0.68% on Thursday following China’s economic problems and the seemingly hawkish outlook from the Fed. By the close of day, the ANX Group and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia had lost 0.93% and 0.14%, respectively. There also were losses recorded by Westpac Banking Corp, which fell 1.93%, with the National Australia Bank losing 2.08%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index also fell for the same reasons, although only slightly. Bank stocks were generally bearish, with HSBC Holdings PLC losing 1.08%, while China Construction Bank lost 0.49%. However, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd rose 0.95% and 1.22%, respectively.