Nikkei Average Suffers 5th-Biggest Drop on Record

Tokyo, July 17 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s key Nikkei 225 stock average on Friday marked the fifth-biggest one-day point loss on record, hurt by heavy selling of semiconductor- and artificial intelligence-related issues. The index of 225 major issues listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Prime section finished the day at 64,141.12, down 2,694.42 points, or 4.03 pct, from Thursday. Memory chip maker Kioxia Holdings, chipmaking equipment maker Tokyo Electron and other major Nikkei component issues bore the brunt of the selling, causing the key index to lose over 4,100 points at one stage in the afternoon. The recent string of strong earnings announcements by overseas chip companies failed to buoy the Tokyo stock market, which had already factored in such results, according to market sources. Starting next week, many other U.S. and Japanese companies are set to release their earnings reports. An official of a major securities house said, “Investors on Friday moved to lock in profits before the earnings (announcements).” Recently, the Nikkei index’s moves have reflected those of South Korea’s chip-heavy KOSPI index. “With the South Korean stock market closed for trading on Friday and the Tokyo market heading into a three-day weekend (until Monday), many market participants engaged in position-adjusting selling,” an official of a Japanese asset management company said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]