Japanese stocks fell today, but the Nikkei is on track to achieve its biggest annual gains since 1989.

Japanese stocks fell during trading on Monday following the losses suffered by their American counterparts on Wall Street last Friday, as rising Treasury yields affected stock valuations and pushed investors to be cautious before the end of the year.

In terms of trading, the main Japanese stock index, the Nikkei 225, closed today down by 0.96% at 39,894.54 points, while the broader TOPIX index fell by 0.65%, recording 2,783.52 points at the end of the session.

Throughout the entire month of December, the Nikkei index managed to capture gains of 4.4%, helping it achieve an annual gain of about 20% for the entire year of 2024, marking the best performance for the Nikkei since 1989, or in 35 years. This was supported by strong corporate earnings and a weak yen that boosted exports.

Among individual stocks on the Nikkei today, the largest percentage loss on the index was attributed to Nissan Motor Company, which fell by 6.4%, while shares of Advantest, a semiconductor testing equipment manufacturer, decreased by 2.5%.

Regarding major corporate news today, the Tokyo Stock Exchange suspended trading in shares of Makino Milling Machine following a surprise acquisition offer from the Japanese manufacturing giant Nidec.

At the same time, Ateam announced plans to acquire the advertising agency specialized in education, automotive, and wedding services, WCA, to enhance its digital marketing offerings, while Kudan launched autonomous transport vehicles to address labor shortages in collaboration with a Japanese manufacturing company.