Japan Stocks extend losses on earnings, COVID-19 resurgence concerns

Japan share market finished lower for fifth straight session on Friday, 30 October 2020, as risk aversion selloff continued after disappointing earnings from some Japanese firms. Meanwhile, uncertainty ahead of the U.S. presidential election and concern over the economic impact of a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in some European countries also dampened sentiments.

At closing bell, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average stumbled 354.81 points, or 1.52%, to 22,977.13. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange dropped 31.60 points, or 1.96%, to 1,579.33. For the week, The Nikkei 225 index declined 2.3% while the broader Topix fell 2.83%.

All 33 industry category of Topix index ended into red territory, with Pulp & Paper, Precision Instruments, Securities & Commodities Futures, Pharmaceutical, Textiles & Apparels, Air Transportation, Mining, and Nonferrous Metals issues being notable losers.

Leading the losses on the Nikkei, were Kyocera Corp down 10%, followed by Oki Electric Industry Co losing 7%, and trading company Mitsui & Co Ltd down by 6.3%. All the companies posted disappointing earnings.

Conversely, the largest percentage gainers were companies that reported positive earnings. Advantest Corp rose 9.2%, followed by Seiko Epson Corp gaining 6.8%, and Panasonic Corp up by 4.9%. Panasonic got another boost after saying it will develop a new battery for electronic-car maker Tesla Inc.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Japanese yen traded at 104.34 against the greenback after weakening from levels around 104 per dollar yesterday.

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