The flagship Nikkei index fell 1.17% to 26,386.63 points, after falling more than 2% at the start of the session. The broader Topix index lost 0.94% to 1,860.76 points.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange closed sharply lower on Wednesday after Wall Street plunged the day before, weighed down by disappointing results or cautious forecasts from large American companies in the face of the prospect of a global economic slowdown.
The flagship Nikkei index fell 1.17% to 26,386.63 points, after falling more than 2% at the start of the session. The broader Topix index lost 0.94% to 1,860.76 points.
On the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the Hang Seng index rose moderately (+0.2% around 06:30 GMT), while Shanghai and Shenzhen were rebounding sharply after their tumble the day before due to fears linked to health confinements in China.
On the side of values
NOMURA AND FANUC PUNISHED: investors were disappointed by the annual results of the Japanese financial holding company Nomura (-4.54% to 481.5 yen) published the day before, and were even more unhappy with the results and forecasts of the manufacturer of industrial robots Fanuc (-5 .72% at 19,525 yen).
MITSUBISHI MOTORS MORE CONFIDENT: the third member of the Renault-Nissan automobile alliance, Mitsubishi Motors (+3.24% to 318 yen) raised its earnings forecasts for its 2021/22 financial year ended on March 31 on Wednesday, thanks in particular to the improvement in its sale price and positive currency effects linked to the fall of the yen.
Mitsubishi Motors, which will publish its final results on May 10, now anticipates annual net profit of 74 billion yen (544 million euros) against a previous outlook of 50 billion yen.
On the side of oil and currencies
Oil prices continued their rebound from the day before, amid tensions over Russian supply, while Germany soon seemed ready to give up imports from Moscow. In addition, the Russian group Gazprom announced the suspension from Wednesday of its gas deliveries to Poland and Bulgaria.
After 06:30 GMT, the price of a barrel of American WTI gained 0.4% to 102.11 dollars and that of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea rose by 0.67% to 105.69 dollars.
The yen declined against the dollar, at a rate of one dollar for 128.02 yen around 06:45 GMT against 127.23 yen on Tuesday at 21:00 GMT.
The Japanese currency also weakened against the euro, which was worth 136.01 yen against 135.34 yen the day before.
The European currency declined against the greenback, at the rate of one euro for 1.0621 dollars against 1.0638 dollars on Tuesday.