Stocks Expected to Remain on Weak Note Next Week as Correction Phase Goes on

Jiji Press

18:29 JST, October 7, 2023

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Tokyo stocks are expected to remain on a weak note next week as a correction phase continues, market sources said Friday.

Last week, the Nikkei average of 225 selected issues listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Prime section plummeted 862.95 points, or 2.71%, to end at 30,994.67.

Investor sentiment worsened as stronger-than-expected U.S. economic indicators fueled worries about prolonged monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve, pushing U.S. Treasury yields higher.

The Nikkei average lost more than 1,800 points in a five-session decline through Wednesday before recovering some of the losses on Thursday. The stock market is believed to have been weighed down by portfolio rebalancing by pension funds.

In the holiday-shortened week from Tuesday, the Nikkei average is expected to move mainly between 30,000 and 31,500, analysts and brokers said. They noted that the market may test its downside again if investor sentiment is hurt by factors such as the U.S. political impasse.

“We’re not in a situation to be confident that the market has bottomed out,” an official at a midsize securities firm said.

“Trading volume suggests that investors are not buying back stocks in earnest,” an official at a major brokerage noted.

Tokyo stocks are also likely to be affected by how U.S. equities and Treasury yields react to Friday’s September employment report by the U.S. government.

Meanwhile, Japanese retailers and others will continue to report results for the June-August quarter this week, with investors focusing on domestic private consumption trends.