Japan share market finished session lower on Friday, 21 January 2022, as sentiment was hit by overnight losses on Wall Street and deepening uncertainty over Japan's economic recovery after widening of the COVID-19 quasi-state of emergency to more Japanese prefectures. Meanwhile, market sentiments also dampened by yen appreciation to upper 113-range against greenback as investors fled to the perceived safety of the yen.
Total 16 out of 47 Japan's 47 prefectures have been put under a quasi-emergency. Meanwhile, Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures said on Thursday that they would request the central government to place them under a coronavirus quasi-state of emergency amid the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.
At closing bell, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average declined 250.67 points, or 0.9%, to 27,522.26. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange dropped 11.35 points, or 0.59%, to 1,927.18.
Shares of exporters declined on the yen's appreciation versus its major counterparts as overseas profits are lessened when repatriated and overall competitiveness deteriorates. Among export-oriented issues, Mazda Motor fell 4.2% to 903 yen, and Mitsubishi Motors fell 4.3% to 308 yen. Toyota Motor declined 2.4% to 2,287.0 yen, after the automaker has said it would halt operations at up to 11 factories in Japan for three days this month due to supply chain bottlenecks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as semiconductor shortages.
ECONOMIC NEWS: Japan Inflation Up 0.8% On Year In December- Japan's overall consumer prices climbed 0.8% on year in December, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday, up from 0.6% in November. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food prices, rose annual 0.5%. Individually, prices were up for food, housing, fuel, clothing, education and recreation; they were down for furniture, medical care and communications. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, overall inflation and core CPI both were up 0.1%.
CURRENCY NEWS: The Japanese yen traded at 113.84 per dollar, continuing to strengthen from levels above 114.
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