Japanese stocks declined on Wednesday, with investors remaining cautious ahead of the upcoming earnings season starting tomorrow, Thursday. The "Nikkei" index reached its highest level in 8 months at 28,806.69 points on Tuesday but fell by 0.71% to close on Wednesday at 28,416.47 points. The broader "Topix" index dropped by 0.89% to 2,023.90 points.
The Bank of Japan is expected to keep its monetary policy unchanged this week, but investors are still wary of potential surprises. More than 100 companies will announce their earnings tomorrow, while a similar number will do so on Friday.
The banking sector sub-index led the losses, falling by 2.05% after "First Republic Bank" reported a decrease in deposits. Additionally, Mitsubishi Motors Corp's stock dropped by 2.57% following the company's announcement on Tuesday that it would incur a one-time fee of approximately $78 million due to a slowdown in sales in its China unit.
