Japan’s Nikkei declines on weak business earnings

Japan’s Nikkei index fell on Friday, tracking Wall Street’s losses Thursday night after a tightening tendency from US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, while some heavyweight stocks fell after disappointing business results.

According to Reuters, the Nikkei ended Friday’s session down 0.24% to 32,568.11 points, but it is far from the low level it reached in early trading when it fell by up to 1.22%.

The broader Topix index compensated for its early losses to close 0.07% higher. But both indices rose this week, with the Nikkei rising 1.94% and the Topix rising 0.62%.

Powell said on Thursday night that he and his colleagues at the Federal Reserve were “not confident” that policy was still tight enough to curb inflation, which helped 10-year US Treasury bond yields rise by as much as 13 basis points to reach 4.654%.