FX.co ★ Japan Stocks Halt 4-Day Winning Streak

In early trading on Monday, the Nikkei 225 index experienced a decline of 1.4%, settling approximately at 49,565, while the Topix index fell by 0.73% to 3,353, pausing gains seen over the previous four sessions. A broad range of sectors traded lower, including technology, communications, and utilities. Investors are poised for the release of China's private-sector PMI, especially following government reports indicating a continued decline in factory activity for October. Despite this, the prospect of potential interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this month helped to mitigate further losses. Last week's economic indicators were favorable, with Tokyo's core inflation holding steady for November, suggesting the Bank of Japan might contemplate an interest rate hike in the forthcoming months. Moreover, October's industrial production and retail sales surpassed market forecasts. Leading the early declines were companies such as Sumitomo Pharma (-5.6%), Fujikura (-5.5%), Tokyo Electric Power (-5.0%), Mitsui Kinzoku (-4.7%), and Inpex Corp (-4.7%).