Stock market Asia: Japanese stocks collapse due to bank worries
Nervousness surrounding the US banking system weighed on domestic financials in Japan on Tuesday. US regulators on Monday sold First Republik Bank to JPMorgan Chase in a bid to stem a banking crisis. “There is a sense of financial instability not only in the US, but also in Japan and the rest of the global stock market,” said Maki Sawada of Normura.
The Nikkei index, which comprises 225 values, was 0.1 percent lower at 29,105 points. The broader Topix index fell 0.3 percent to 2,072 points.
Nomura’s price fell 2.19 percent to a new low for the year. Lender Resona’s shares fell 1.58 percent. Renesas Electronics rose 4.63 percent, leading the chip values.
Markets in Tokyo will be closed for public holidays for the next three days. This means that Japanese investors have little leeway to react to the forthcoming meeting of the US Federal Reserve. It is expected that the monetary watchdogs will probably switch to a more cautious approach to their interest rate policy due to the clouded growth prospects and the turbulence in the banks.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange was up 1.1 percent. The index of major companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen gained 1 percent.
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