Nikkei Average Briefly Loses Over 1,000 Points

Tokyo, Nov. 14 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average briefly tumbled over 1,000 points Friday, dragged down by technology shares after a U.S. market sell-off fueled by fading expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut. The Nikkei average ended the day down 905.30 points, or 1.76 pct, from Thursday at 50,376.53. The broader TOPIX index shed 21.91 points, or 0.65 pct, to finish at 3,359.81. Hopes for a December rate cut by the Fed waned after its senior officials including Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack voiced reluctance on the subject, prompting hefty selling on Wall Street on Thursday. The selling spree continued into Tokyo hours, with semiconductor- and artificial intelligence-related names especially being pummeled. “As the advances of AI- and chip-related stocks had supported the Nikkei average’s recent climb, the collapse of U.S. tech issue prices led to increased profit-taking and position-squaring selling of AI-linked stocks on the Tokyo market,” an official at a Japanese securities firm said. “Stocks other than tech issues were also susceptible to profit-securing selling, as Japanese stocks as a whole were at a high level,” an official at a major securities firm said. The TOPIX index had finished at an all-time high on Thursday. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]