Japan Nikkei falls on Omicron concerns

Japan share market finished session down on Monday, 06 December 2021, as investors turned risk averse amid growing concerns over the impact of the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant on the global economy.

At closing bell, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average declined 102.20 points, or 0.36%, to 27,927.37. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange dropped 10.32 points, or 0.53%, to 1,947.54.

Total 16 of 33 Topix industry groups ended down, with bottom performing issues were Information & Communication (down 1.8%), Pharmaceutical (down 1.7%), Precision Instruments (down 1.5%), Services (down 1.5%), and Air Transportation (down 1.3%) issues, while top performing issues included Mining (up 1.9%), Pulp & Paper (up 0.9%), Iron & Steel (up 0.7%), Marine Transportation (up 0.7%), and Oil & Coal Products (up 0.6%) issues.

Shares of SoftBank Group tumbled 8.2% on concerns over valuations of key companies in its portfolio after Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global Inc. statement last week it will delist in the United States. SoftBank Group has invested in Didi.

Online stock brokerage firm Monex Group, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck Inc., plunged 7.5 percent after Bitcoin dropped over the weekend, hit by investors' flight from riskier assets. Nexon declined 2.8% after online game company said in April it had bought $100 million worth of Bitcoin.

CURRENCY NEWS: The U.S. dollar edged up to the lower 113 yen range as investors fled to the perceived safety of the yen after the Omicron variant was confirmed in more than 40 countries and regions. The dollar was at 113.14-15 yen late afternoon on Monday compared with 113.37-38 yen in Tokyo on Friday.

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