Nintendo’s stock price fell 5.4% after the company announced that a successor to its popular Switch device would be announced by March 2025, disappointing investors.
Sony fell 5% amid speculation over a possible takeover of Paramount Global by Sony Pictures and private equity firm Apollo Global Management.
Market participants are paying close attention to how the authorities will react to the continued depreciation of the yen against the dollar.
The dollar rose from 154.50 yen to 155.20 yen. Japanese officials expressed concern after the value of the yen fell to 160.25 yen to the dollar in recent days, prompting the Ministry of Finance to intervene.
Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda told lawmakers on Wednesday that “exchange rate fluctuations can have a significant impact on the economy and prices, so it may be necessary to respond with monetary policy.”
A weaker yen helps the profits of Japanese companies that earn much of their revenue overseas, but fluctuations in interest rates can derail plans, and a weaker yen greatly erodes the purchasing power of households and businesses, reducing food and energy costs. It is pushing up import costs. Among other things.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.7% to 18,354.11, while the Shanghai Composite Index also fell 0.6% to 3,129.65.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1% to 7,804.50 and South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.4% to 2,745.05.
Taiwan’s Tyex rose 0.2%.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.1% to 5,187.70. It was a quiet day after the index posted three straight gains of at least 0.9%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1% to $38,884.26, and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.1% to $16,332.56.
Kenvue, whose brands include Band-Aids and Tylenol, beat analyst expectations for both profit and sales in its latest quarter, rising 6.4%.
Walt Disney Co. fell 9.5% despite reporting better-than-expected results for the latest quarter. Revenue was slightly lower than expected, and the company expects its entertainment streaming business to slow this quarter.
The company is at the tail end of companies reporting financial results for the first three months of the year. Most companies beat earnings estimates, but their stock prices haven’t risen as much since then as usual, according to FactSet. Not only that, but companies whose profits fall short of expectations will see their stock prices drop more the next day than they have in the past.
This may suggest that investors are listening to critics who have said that stocks are generally too expensive following this year’s record rally in the U.S. stock market. be. For stock prices to rise further, profits must rise further or interest rates must fall.
Wall Street is still thinking about the latter possibility this year, after some events last week that traders found encouraging.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank remains closer to cutting key interest rates than raising them, even though inflation has remained high this year. Meanwhile, Friday’s weaker-than-expected jobs report suggests the U.S. economy can strike a balance between not doing well enough to keep inflation high but remaining strong enough to avoid a bad recession. suggested.
In other trading, benchmark U.S. crude oil fell 48 cents to $77.90 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell 10 cents on Tuesday to $78.38 a barrel.
Brent crude, the international standard crude, fell 52 cents to $82.64 per barrel.
The euro fell to $1.0747 from $1.0755.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
