Nikkei yields 0.33% to the extension of the health emergency

The Tokyo Stock Exchange closed today with a 0.33% decline in Nikkei, its main indicator. It resulted from the foreseeable extension of the state of health emergency due to coronavirus in Tokyo and eight other regions.

The Nikkei ended with a decline of 93.18 points to 28,549.01. At the same time, the Topix, a broader index including the securities with the highest capitalization, yielded 9.65% points or 0.5%, to 1911.02.

The prime minister to discuss extended emergency today

The Tokyo market reacted in this way to requests from Tokyo and other regions most affected by the fourth wave of infections to extend the state of a health emergency. This Friday, the central executive is expected to take a measure against it. Yoshihide Suga, Prime Minister of Japan, will declare a state of emergency today for the new coronavirus targeting nine prefectures, including Tokyo. It will expire on May 31.

Two months have left until the opening of the Olympic Games, which is scheduled in Tokyo. Meanwhile, the new extension of the emergency entails restrictions on bars and restaurants and the attendance of the public and sporting events.

Thus, the Nikkei broke a streak of five consecutive days of rises, which also led to the collection of profits among investors on Thursday.

Among the stocks with the highest capitalization, the tech giant Softbank lost 1.61%. At the same time, Toyota Motor, the Japanese automotive leader, climbed by 0.77%.

Nintendo’s video game company slipped by 1.91%. Fast Retailing, a multinational textile company that owns the chain of clothing stores Uniqlo, dropped by 0.55%.

The sectors that registered the most significant declines were steel, metal, shipping, and mining.

In the first section, 1,647 stocks closed with a decrease. 474 stocks closed with a rise, and 73 were unchanged.

The trading volume amounted to 5.59 trillion yen.