business

Stocks fall on rumors of Olympic bid failure

15 Comments

Tokyo stocks fell 1.45% on Friday as the yen strengthened while construction and real estate firms were hit by speculation that Japan would lose its bid to host the 2020 Olympics.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed 204.01 points lower at 13,860.81, while the Topix index of all first-section shares declined 0.87%, or 10.02 points, to 1,147.82.

The Nikkei had opened modestly higher after U.S. stocks edged up on Thursday.

But those early gains quickly eroded as investors hit the sell button on growing speculation that Madrid beat Tokyo and Istanbul in the race to stage the Olympics.

"A great deal of buying had taken place based on expectations for a Tokyo win, but this optimism is apparently fading," Tachibana Securities market advisor Kenichi Hirano said.

"And so the air is now coming out of sectors seen benefiting from the infrastructure spending that would have ensued, such as the construction and real estate sectors," Hirano added.

Adding to selling pressure was a fall in the value of the dollar against the yen.

The greenback, which on Thursday broke above 100 yen for the first time since July, dipped to 99.78 yen Friday, compared with 100.12 yen late in New York.

© (C) 2013 AFP

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

15 Comments
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Even if the loss of a bid is just rumor, it's the kind of rumor that could hurt things, and the bid itself to boot.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Rumors are just rumors! Tokyo has the bid wrapped up.

-7 ( +0 / -7 )

No surprises, stocks rise and fall on speculations and rumors.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Let's just hope Tokyo doesn't get the olympics. They have had it once and it was great (I'm sure). Fukuoka should have gotten the Japan bid instead of pretentious Tokyo. Or Sapporo. Or Osaka.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

With the 2018 Winter Olympics being in South Korea I think it's kinda unlikely that Japan will get 2020. Usually the Olympics are spread out

3 ( +4 / -1 )

lol, great cause. it's hard to come up with more stupid explenation. And of course there will be the most comments about the stock prices in a month. I wonder why it wasn't as much commented when it rose for few days?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Thanks TEPCO for yet another failure caused by your greed and sloppiness.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

i really can't see Madrid winning the vote or Spain really wanting it! The country can't afford it and it's only 21 years (28 years in 2020) since they last hosted the Olympics. Voting rarely goes how everyone expects and tabloid papers saying they are getting it are not likely to be correct. Frankly i would fancy Istanbul getting it over madrid.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

great news. I was suspecting Japan of downplaying the Fukushima situation so as to not jeopardize the 2020 bid. Had Japan been successful in securing the position, we would have seen more misleading info from the government, in order to prevent the olympics from being moved elsewhere.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Why waste your energy guessing about it today? You'll know tomorrow. Or, if you live in Japan, late tonight.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

There will ALWAYS be this kind of speculation. Means nothing. I shan't heed any of it.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Congratulations to those who, after the heavy sell off on Friday, went long J-stocks and especially Nikkei futures after the non-farm payrolls as well as to Ladbrokes keeping steadfast on the short odds about Tokyo, heavily laying Madrid. Great example that the markets are not always right and can be swayed by BS rumours, a very important lesson. One thing they didn't teach us at Uni is that market efficiency is often equivalent to market gullability...

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Now that Tokyo has been awarded the 2020 Games, I'll bet the stockbrokers who made up this rumor are patting each other on the back. They'll get to help their clients buy back all the stocks they told them to sell two days ago.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

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