Japan Nikkei tumbles amid rising interest rates woes

Japan stock market finished session significantly lower on Tuesday, 16 April 2024, extending losses in the previous day, on following the broad sell-off on Wall Street overnight, as bond yields spiked after a report showed a much stronger than expected U.S. retail sales growth in March.

Market sentiments weighed down further amid rising geopolitical tensions between Iran and Israel after Irans launch of drones and missiles at Israel on Saturday night, marking the first direct attack on Israel from Iranian territory. Global investors remain wary about what Israel may do next following a barrage of Iranian drone and missile attacks.

Also, weighing on investor sentiment was speculations that the Bank of Japan may be forced to hike interest rates on the backdrop of the yen's depreciation and high oil prices also drove yields higher in Japan.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average index retreated 761.60 points, or 1.94%, to finish at 38,471.20. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange tanked 56.09 points, 2.04%, to 2,697.11.

Stocks faced heavy selling throughout the day, with technology issue suffered steep losses amid concern about the impact of higher borrowing costs.

CURRENCY NEWS: The U.S. dollar rose to a new 34-year high in the mid-154 yen level in Tokyo. At 5 p.m., the yen quoted at 154.35 per US dollar compared to 154.24 in Tokyo at 5 p.m. on Monday.

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