Japanese stocks fell, led by the financial sector, as investors were shaken by revelations of loan problems at two regional US banks that raised concerns about the credit market.
The Topix index fell 1% to 3,170.44 at the close of trading in Tokyo.
Of the 1,672 stocks in the index, 446 rose and 1,169 fell, while 57 were unchanged.
The Nikkei index fell 1.4% to 47,582.15, poised for its first weekly loss in eight weeks.
"Rather than focusing on specific sectors, it feels like we're seeing limited risk-off sentiment," said Tetsuo Seshimo, portfolio manager at Saison Asset Management. "Small incidents can sometimes trigger bigger problems. So I think there's a bit of caution in the market, hence this mild risk-off tone." Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. contributed the most to the Topix index's decline, falling 3%.
"Japanese bank stocks are under pressure today, and these macro concerns in the US could weigh on the major banks in our market, where we maintain our short position on SMFG, especially as the BOJ is delaying normalization," said Amir Anvarzadeh, Japanese equity strategist at Asymmetric Advisors. (asd)
Source: Newsmaker.id
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