Japan Stocks Fall Pressured by Strong JPY

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index fell after stocks on Wall Street closed lower and shares in major exporters were hurt by a stronger yen.

The Nikkei 225 ended down 1.3% at 19,046.55, with the yen hitting one-month highs against the dollar.
A stronger yen hurts Japan’s big exporters as it makes their products more expensive to buy overseas.
Among the main carmakers, Honda fell 2.3%, Nissan dropped 1.1% while Toyota was down 0.7%.
Australia’s stock market also closed down despite positive job numbers.

The country’s jobless rate came in at 5.8% in November – down from 5.9% the month before and the lowest reading since early last year.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics also said 71,400 new jobs were created in the month, which was much better than expected. The Australian dollar rose more than 1% against the US dollar on the news.

However, Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.8% lower at 5,037.7 after being dragged down by the so-called big four banks, which make up some 30% of Australia’s stock market. Among the big four, Westpac shed 2%, while Commonwealth Bank fell 1.7%.

via BBC

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.