The Japanese equity markets slipped modestly on Tuesday, ceding part of the advance achieved in the prior session. The benchmark Nikkei 225 closed down 123.94 points or 0.43% at 28,516.55, after falling to a low of 28,510.39 earlier this day. Investor concern over the rapid spread of the Omicron variant across roughly forty nations—including several domestic cases—has weighed heavily on sentiment.
Rising pressure from investors who feared erosion of gains has kept the Nikkei 225 declining. The index shed 123.94 points (0.43%) to end at 28,516.55, charting a rebound after a previous low of 28,510.39 recorded early Wednesday morning. Japanese equities, meanwhile, posted a strong rally on Monday, climbing nearly 2% to the close.
Large market forces proved mixed. SoftBank Group remained flat, while Uniqro’s parent, Fast Retailing, slipped almost two percent. In automobiles, Honda edged up about one percent and Toyota advanced more than two percent. Tech‑focused firms saw divergence: Advantest and Tokyo Electron each gained over 1%, whereas Screen Holdings slipped just under 1%. Within banking, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Finance stayed roughly even, but Mizuho Financial nudged up 0.2%. Other major exporters posted slower gains—Panasonic fell beyond one percent, Mitsubishi Electric dippped 0.4%, Canon rose 0.2%, and Sony was essentially flat.
Further declines affected notable names such as Tokyu Corp., M3, ANA Holdings, Casio Computer, NTN, IHI and NSK, each down approximately 2% on the session.
Conversely, Shen Sei Bank surged over four percent, and Tokio Marine Holdings added almost three percent. In foreign exchange terms, the United States dollar opened in the high‑113 yen range on Tuesday.
On the American side, the Dow fell 320.04 points (0.9%) to 35,650.95, the Nasdaq plunged 217.32 points (1.4%) to 15,413.28, and the S&P 500 dropped 43.05 points (0.9%) to 4,668.97, all reaching daily lows. European markets echoed the downtick; Germany’s DAX hovered just below a holding line, France’s CAC 40 dipped 0.7% and the UK’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.8%.
Crude oil futures settled lower on Monday, reflecting cautious expectations about upcoming demand amid lingering Omicron worries. West Texas Intermediate crude closed the day at $71.29 per barrel, down $0.38 (≈0.5%) on the previous trading rally.
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