Nikkei Significantly Lower Due to Resurgence of Virus Concerns

The stock exchange in Japan closed sharply lower on Tuesday. Fears of a possible reintroduction of stricter corona measures in the central Japanese cities of Tokyo and Osaka to stem the continued rise in corona infections fueled concerns about a slowdown in the economic recovery.

 

The technology companies were also under pressure after the significant loss of the American tech gauge Nasdaq.

The main index in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225, ended 2 percent in the negative at 29,100.38 points, making the most significant loss in a month. Renesas fell 2.7 percent. The Japanese chipmaker expects to restore production capacity lost from the fire at its Naka plant by the end of May.

Renesas is a major supplier of chips to the automotive industry. The fire was an additional blow to car manufacturers who have been struggling with a chip shortage for their vehicles for a long time.

Tech investor SoftBank lost almost 2 percent. According to the newspaper The New York Times, US office rental company WeWork is once again issuing “inflated revenue expectations”. That was one of the reasons WeWork had to cancel its IPO in 2019.

WeWork will now merge with the investment fund BowX Acquisition, which is listed on the Nasdaq. The two companies sketch an overly optimistic picture of the future for WeWork, in which SoftBank has a great interest.

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