Nikkei records first weekly decline in 5 weeks

Japan’s Nikkei index fell at the close on Friday and also recorded its first weekly decline in five weeks, with shares of technology companies declining due to a rise in bond yields following economic data that provided additional evidence that the US central bank may end raising interest rates.

According to Reuters, the Nikkei closed trading down 0.17%, recording 33,431.51 points, and also lost 0.58% during the week.

The technology sector is the only one that fell on the Nikkei. Out of 225 stocks, 97 declined, 125 rose, and three remained stable

The broader Topix index, which is less focused on technology companies, rose 0.32% today, but fell 0.35% during the week.

Long-term Japanese bond yields rose 3.5 basis points to 0.705% on Friday, tracking an overnight recovery in US Treasury bond yields after recording sharp declines over three days.

The index recorded its best monthly performance in three years in November and touched a 33-year peak on November 20, recording 33,853.46 points, but the momentum declined after that.

Four of the five stocks that fell on the Nikkei on Friday were technology companies

SoftBank Group’s shares for investment in emerging companies fell 1.66%, Tokyo Electron, which manufactures chip manufacturing equipment, fell 0.73%, Advantest, which manufactures chip testing equipment, fell 1.26%, and TDK shares fell 1.57%.

The fifth heavyweight stock that declined was the stock of Fast Retailing, which owns the Uniqlo brand, as it fell 1.04%.

As for car manufacturers, they derived support from the yen’s overnight decline from its highest levels in several weeks against the dollar. Toyota and Honda shares achieved gains of approximately 1.4% each.