The Nikkei 225 Index Closes 0.45% Lower

The Nikkei 225 Index dropped 304 points or 0.45 percent on Tuesday to close at 66630 points. Losses were led by Nippon Electric Glass (-10.28%), Mitsui Mining & Smelting (-7.52%) and Yaskawa Electric (-7.32%). Offsetting the fall, top gainers were AGC (8.76%), GS Yuasa (6.87%) and Isetan Mitsukoshi (6.75%).

The Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.3% to close at 66,734, while the broader Topix Index lost 0.42% to 3,924 on Tuesday, as Japanese equities pulled back modestly from record highs amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainty. Reports indicated that Tehran had suspended talks with Washington in response to Israeli strikes in Lebanon, although President Donald Trump stated that negotiations remain underway. Domestically, markets are pricing in roughly a 78% probability that the Bank of Japan will raise interest rates again later this month as inflationary pressures linked to the Middle East conflict continue to build. Among individual stocks, notable decliners included Murata Manufacturing (-2.5%), Fujikura (-2.2%), Furukawa Electric (-2.3%), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (-3.3%), and Toyota Motor (-2.1%). Meanwhile, SoftBank Group rose another 1.1%, extending gains after a technology-led rally on Wall Street sparked by the launch of a new PC chip.

The Nikkei 225 Index went up by 624 points or 0.94 percent on Monday to close at 66954 points. The rise was led by Softbank (14.99%), Murata Manufacturing (10.18%) and Sumco (9.16%). On the downside, the weakerst performers were Denki Kagaku Kogyo (-7.04%), Mitsubishi Motors (-6.73%) and Mitsubishi Electric (-6.69%).