Japan’s Nikkei share average ended at a near three-month low on Wednesday, amid worsening recession fears hitting Wall Street overnight, while a media report that Apple dropped plans of producing more iPhones also weighed on sentiment.

The Nikkei fell 1.5% to close at 26,173.98, after hitting a July 1 low of 25,938.36 earlier.

The benchmark index had opened weak and it fell further following a Bloomberg News report that Apple would drop a plan to boost production of its new smartphones after an anticipated demand surge failed to materialise.

Investors globally are on edge as surging borrowing costs stoke fears of widespread recession, with most of the world’s major central banks putting their focus squarely on tightening policies to contain super-heated inflation.

“It’s very hard to buy stocks in a situation where everyone is working to gauge the risk of sliding into recession,” said Jun Kitazawa, a strategist at Miki Securities.
Of the benchmark’s 225 constituents, 206 stocks fell and 19 rose.

The broader Topix slid 0.95% to 1,855.15.

Pharma was the only Nikkei sector that rose, adding 0.35%.

Eisai surged by its daily limit, rising 17.29% after the drugmaker reported successful trial of its experimental Alzheimer’s treatment lecanemab.

Rival Shionogi added 1.08% after saying its oral treatment for COVID-19 demonstrated a significant reduction in symptoms compared to a placebo.

Real estate led declines among other sectors, dropping 2.78%.

The biggest drag on the Nikkei by index weight share was Uniqlo store operator Fast Retailing, down 4.23%, followed by robotics giant Fanuc, 2.89% lower, startup investor SoftBank Group, off 1.83%, and chip-making equipment-maker Tokyo Electron, which lost 1.38%.

Reuters