Nikkei 225 ends two-day winning streak with modest decline

Japanese stock markets ended a two-day winning streak on Thursday, with the Nikkei 225 index declining. The index fell by approximately 0.14% to 0.20%, finishing at 66,131.98 after trading between 65,782.59 and 66,954.69.

Sector-specific losses in paper, pulp, transportation, and communications drove the downturn, though these were partially mitigated by support from financial and property stocks. Among individual performers, Kioxia Holdings Corp saw a significant gain of 5.00%, while Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. rose 4.71%. Conversely, Advantest Corp experienced a decline of 3.05%, and Ebara Corp fell 2.78%.

On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, advancing stocks slightly outnumbered declining stocks, with 1,789 gainers compared to 1,656 losers. The Nikkei volatility index remained flat at 30.41.