TOKYO: Japanese stocks fell, with the Topix index set to cap its biggest monthly loss in more than three years, as comments from Federal Reserve officials renewed speculation the U.S. may raise interest rates as soon as September.
Toyota Motor Corp. dropped 2.2 percent as a stronger yen weighed on exporters. Oki Electric Industry Co. sank 5.3 percent after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lowered its rating on the maker of communications equipment. Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp. lost 4.2 percent as investors took profits after a 13 percent rally over the previous three sessions. Suzuki Motor Corp. lost 1.2 percent after a long-standing feud with Volkswagen AG was resolved, with the Japanese automaker facing the prospect of paying damages after arbitrators ruled it had breached the agreement.
The Topix slipped 1.3 percent to 1,529.39 as of 12:35 p.m. in Tokyo, heading for a 7.8 percent drop in August, the biggest such plunge since May 2012. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 1.6 percent to 18,925.15, on course for a 8.5 percent monthly loss. The yen strengthened 0.5 percent to 121.08 per dollar, halting four days of declines. U.S. stock futures tumbled after Fed officials meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, said inflation was likely to improve, dousing investor expectations that interest-rate hikes would be delayed until December.
“Fears that a September rate hike could lead to more stock selling will weigh negatively on stocks in both the U.S. and Japan,” said Shoji Hirakawa, chief equity strategist at Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo.
