TOKYO, June 17 (ABC): Tokyo stocks closed lower on Friday as moves by central banks outside Japan to hike interest rates fuelled recession fears.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 1.77 percent, or 468.20 points, to end at 25,963.00, while the broader Topix index slipped 1.71 percent, or 31.91 points, to 1,835.90.
The US Federal Reserve’s decision to raise its benchmark borrowing rate was followed by rate increase announcements by central banks in Britain and Switzerland on Thursday.
These moves “disheartened investors, prompting sell-offs to widen in the Tokyo market” and leaving them “worried about recessions”, Okasan Online Securities said.
Bucking the global tightening trend, the Bank of Japan said Friday it will hold rates at minus 0.1 percent and continue buying unlimited government bonds to maintain a low cap on long-term yields.
But the BoJ also said it would “pay due attention” to forex markets as the yen struggles around a 24-year low.
The dollar fetched 134.01 yen, against 132.14 yen in New York overnight.
Toyota plunged 3.59 percent to 2,063 yen, Sony Group was down 0.62 percent at 11,215 yen, and Nippon Steel fell 3.42 percent to 1,971.5 yen.
SoftBank Group tumbled 4.24 percent to 4,788 yen.
Airlines were also lower, with Japan Airlines trading down 1.80 percent at 2,232 yen and its rival ANA Holdings off 1.02 percent at 2,410 yen.