Japan’s Nikkei falls, posts worst weekly loss in a month

Japan’s Nikkei index fell on Thursday, posting its worst weekly performance in more than a month despite favorable factors stemming from a weaker yen, as Wall Street’s slide and caution after policy decisions by major central banks cast a shadow over markets.

The Nikkei closed down 0.29 percent at 38,701.90 points, and recorded a weekly decline of 1.66 percent, the biggest drop since early November, according to Reuters.

The broader Topix index also lost 0.44 percent, and fell 1.19 percent during the week, the index’s biggest weekly decline since mid-October.

Stocks received little support from the Bank of Japan’s decision on Thursday not to raise interest rates, or from a news conference held by the bank’s governor, Kazuo Ueda, in which he said it would take a long time to judge the outlook for domestic wages and foreign economies, led by the U.S. economy.