Japanese shares sink on rising fears over domestic lockdowns

By Hideyuki Sano
TOKYO, March 26 (Reuters) - Japanese shares took a tumble on
Thursday following three days of massive gains after a rise in
domestic coronavirus cases stoked worries of tougher domestic
restrictions for social distancing.
The Nikkei share average .N225 dropped 4.51% to 18,664.60.
It had risen 18% in the last three sessions, including an 8%
gain the previous day - its biggest since 2008.
The rally was driven by a range of factors, including buying
from domestic public accounts and hopes of big U.S. stimulus,
which all prompted sellers to unwind their positions.
But the sentiment soured after Tokyo's governor late on
Wednesday asked residents to avoid non-essential outings until
April 12, warning of the risk of an explosive rise in infections
in Japan's capital. The Japanese government was preparing to set up a special
headquarters on the coronavirus as early as Thursday afternoon,
a step that could set the stage for declaring a state of
emergency over the outbreak. Tokyo reported a record 41 new infections on Wednesday to
bring the total to 212, while the country's total cases hit
1,300 - accelerating in the last few days.
"The rise in infections in Tokyo is making lockdowns in
Japan realistic, forcing markets to re-assess the impact of the
virus," said Hideyuki Suzuki, head of investment research at SBI
Securities.
"Upcoming economic data will likely show an unprecedented
level of devastation but it is not clear if that has been priced
in at the recent bottom of the market."
In a sign of things to come, trading house Marubeni 8002.T
lost 11.8% after it forecast a record net loss of 190 billion
yen ($1.7 billion) for the year ending March, as the pandemic
drives an unprecedented oil price slide and falls in other
commodities. Marubeni's warning hit its rival companies, such as
Mitsubishi Corp 8058.T , Mitsui Co 8031.T and Itochu Corp
8001.T , which fell 2.5%, 5.9% and 4.2%, respectively.
Pepper Food Service 3053.T , fell 17.4% - its daily limit
- after the struggling steak restaurant chain operator said late
on Wednesday it is facing funding problems and that there is
substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going
concern.
SoftBank Group 9984.T slumped 9.4% after Moody's
downgraded its debt rating by two notches to "Ba3", prompting
the tech conglomerate to request a withdrawal of the rating.
On the other hand, some telecom companies and manufacturers
of soaps and foods continued to do well. Frozen food firm
Nichirei 2871.T jumped 6.0% while mobile carrier NTT Docomo
9437.T gained 3.9%.
The broader Topix .TOPX fell 1.8% to 1,399.32.