Supported by expectations that the US-Iran conflict would heat up again, oil prices continued to rise, while the yen strengthened slightly to suppress exporters, and the Japanese stock market fell in early trading. The decline in the Nikkei Index extended to 1%. The SoftBank Group dragged down the TSE Index the most, falling 3.6%. The index consists of 1,635 stocks, of which 336 rose, 1,258 fell, and 41 remained flat. Japan's inflation data released earlier in the day confirms the Bank of Japan's position of continuing to raise the benchmark interest rate after speeding up the pace of policy normalization. Ichikawa Masahiro, chief market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management, said, “The market seems to be overpricing the Bank of Japan's interest rate hike. If this expectation goes too far, market concerns about the economy will intensify, thereby suppressing financial stocks such as banks and insurance.”

Supported by expectations that the US-Iran conflict would heat up again, oil prices continued to rise, while the yen strengthened slightly to suppress exporters, and the Japanese stock market fell in early trading. The decline in the Nikkei Index extended to 1%. The SoftBank Group dragged down the TSE Index the most, falling 3.6%. The index consists of 1,635 stocks, of which 336 rose, 1,258 fell, and 41 remained flat. Japan's inflation data released earlier in the day confirms the Bank of Japan's position of continuing to raise the benchmark interest rate after speeding up the pace of policy normalization. Ichikawa Masahiro, chief market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management, said, “The market seems to be overpricing the Bank of Japan's interest rate hike. If this expectation goes too far, market concerns about the economy will intensify, thereby suppressing financial stocks such as banks and insurance.”