Nikkei slides to 1-month low

FE Team | Published: March 16, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

TOKYO, March 15 (Reuters): Japanese stocks skidded 2.7 per cent to a one-month low on Friday morning as concerns over Ukraine and slowing growth in China rattled investors, underpinning the safe-haven yen and hurting exporters.
The Nikkei share average fell 395.04 points to 14,420.94 in mid-morning trade after dropping to a low of 14,408.62 earlier, the weakest since Feb. 17.
"Investors are unwinding their long positions in the Nikkei and short positions in the yen," said Kyoya Okazawa, head of global equities and commodity derivatives at BNP Paribas.
"Short-term sellers like commodity trading advisors are also big players today and they are also reacting to the falling copper price."
On Thursday, copper resumed its decline on the London Metal Exchange after a brief recovery on the previous day. It hit a 44-month low on Wednesday.
Nonferrous metal shares, which have been hit over the past few sessions, extended their declines. Dowa Holdings dropped 3.0 per cent to a nine-month low of 807 yen, and Sumitomo Metal Mining shed 2.0 per cent to a five-week low of 1,240 yen.
Traders said investors remained risk-averse amid the backdrop of troubles in Ukraine and soft data in China, adding that the benchmark Nikkei would likely target support at 14,000 if it breaches Friday's futures and options settlement price of 14,429.87.
Market participants, citing estimates by local brokerages, said that Nikkei futures and options contracts expiring in March likely settled at 14,429.87. The official settlement price will be announced by the Osaka Securities Exchange after the market closes.
Markets remained nervous on rising tensions in Ukraine after Russia launched military exercises near its border with Ukraine.
Index heavyweight stocks led the declines. SoftBank Corp fell 1.8 per cent and was the most trade stock by turnover, while Fast Retailing Co declined 2.7 per cent and was the second-most traded stock.
Exporters were also battered after the dollar/yen hit the lowest in over a week at 101.83 yen. A weak yen hurts Japanese exporters' competitiveness abroad as well as their dollar earnings when repatriated.