• The yen depreciated against the U.S. dollar to a new 24-year low.
• Loretta Mester stated that she expects the central bank to raise interest rates over 4 percent by the beginning of next year.
• Fast retailing dropped by 1.34 percent.

Concerns are mounting among investors that the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes targeted at tamping down inflation will continue unabated. On Thursday, Tokyo equities began lower, continuing US losses.

In early trading, the Nikkei 225 index down 1.04 percent, or 291.67 points, to 27,799.86, while the Topix index fell 0.80 percent, or 15.76 points, to 1,947.40.

The yen depreciated against the U.S. dollar to a new 24-year low due to fears of a further escalation in US and Japanese interest rate policies.

In early trade, the dollar was worth 139.48 yen, up from 138.97 yen on Wednesday in New York.

As a result of Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell’s warning last week that there will be no break from interest rate hikes, “investors are increasingly inclined to avoid taking risks,” Okasan Online Securities said in a note.

The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Loretta Mester, stated on Wednesday that she expects the central bank to raise interest rates over 4 percent by the beginning of next year, thereby exacerbating concerns over the extended monetary tightening.

Okasan stated that investors in Japan are “likely to avoid aggressive trading” as they await employment statistics, particularly Friday’s all-important US government employment report.

SoftBank Group was down 0.89 percent to 5,512 yen, Sony Group was down 0.35 percent to 11,095 yen, and Toyota was down 2.06 percent to 2,016 yen, among the main Tokyo stocks.

Fast Retailing, which operates Uniqlo, dropped 1.34 percent to 80,850 yen.

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