Nikkei index falls 1.7%, following Wall Street's decline.

The Nikkei index fell 1.7% in early trading to 53,514.80 points, following the overnight drop in Wall Street stocks, due to the ongoing Middle East conflict. IG Chief Market Analyst Chris Beauchamp said in an email, "As long as the US and Iran continue to be hostile towards each other, the stock market will continue to be under pressure." The chief market analyst added, "Traders continue to use every rebound as an opportunity to sell stocks, and buy when oil prices are weak." Among the worst-performing stocks in the benchmark Japanese index, Honda Motor fell 5.1%, Renesas fell 5.0%, and SoftBank Group fell 4.9%.