Japan’s Nikkei share average dropped to more than a week low on Wednesday as worries over the US presidential election prompted a recoil in global markets, with a stronger yen adding to the cautious mood.
The Nikkei fell 1.0 per cent to 17,269.30 points by mid-morning, after touching as low as 17,211.06, the lowest since October 24.
Investors’ nervousness over the outcome of the November 8 election jumped on Friday after news that the FBI was probing newly found e-mails related to US Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s use of a private server.
While Clinton is still ahead in most opinion polls, her lead has been shrinking, and there is greater uncertainty over what a potential victory for Republican candidate Donald Trump might mean for US foreign policy, international trade deals and global financial markets.
“Opinion polls looking to ascertain a leader show extreme variance in their findings and if Brexit taught investors anything, it is that opinion polls can be erroneous, “ said Martin King, co-managing director at Tyton Capital Advisors.
Election outcome
Traders also said that regardless of the election outcome, investors may become risk averse because it is still not clear what a Clinton presidency would mean to the economy, either.
“Uncertainty over a Trump presidency dominates the market now. But even if Clinton wins, people will still likely stay risk-averse on uncertainty over her policy,” said Makoto Kikuchi, chief executive of Myojo Asset Management.
“Unlike debates in past elections, the candidates spent more time denouncing each other than policy and measures.”
The dollar fell about 1 per cent against the yen to an eight-day low of 103.81 yen. A strong yen caps Japanese exporters’ profits made abroad when repatriated.
Toyota Motor Corp dropped 1.8 per cent, Honda Motor Co fell 2.5 per cent and Hitachi Ltd declined 1.6 per cent.
Bucking the weakness, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp jumped more than 5 per cent after defying estimates by retaining its annual profit outlook.
Meanwhile, trading in Takeda Pharmaceutical Co was suspended by the bourse after news the company was interested in buying Canadian drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc’s stomach-drug business.
People familiar with the matter told Reuters the deal for the sale of the Salix business could raise as much as $10 billion for Valeant.
The broader Topix dropped 1.4 per cent to 1,373.68 and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 shed 1.4 per cent to 12,312.01.