Tokyo stocks close down ahead of US jobs data

A man walks past an electronic board displaying stock prices of Nikkei 225 listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange along a street in Tokyo on April 4, 2024. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)

Tokyo stocks closed sharply lower on Friday as semiconductor-related shares dropped after falls on Wall Street, while investors eyed key US jobs data.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 1.96 percent, or 781.06 points, to 38,992.08, while the broader Topix index lost 1.08 percent, or 29.38 points, to 2,702.62.

“The Japanese market saw a sell-off, mainly in semiconductor stocks, after all three major US indexes fell sharply with chip-linked Nvidia dropping,” IwaiCosmo Securities said.

The US non-farm payrolls report, due later in the day, “will serve as the ultimate determinant in a challenging week for markets,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner of SPI Asset Management.

The reading “could prompt yet another hawkish reassessment of the likelihood of a June rate cut” by the Fed, he added.

Chip-linked shares tumbled, with Tokyo Electron plunging 5.60 percent to 37,270 yen and Advantest sinking 4.85 percent to 6,042 yen.

SoftBank Group dropped 2.77 percent to 8,537 yen while Sony Group lost 1.88 percent to 12,780 yen.

The dollar traded at 151.22 yen, unchanged from levels seen in New York on Thursday.