The Japanese stock market, which resumed trading after a holiday in the previous session, slipped into negative territory after opening higher as investors tracked the mixed cues overnight from Wall Street.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 111.43 points or 0.38 percent to 29,451.50, after touching a high of 29,650.51 in early trades.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is declining more than 1 percent and Fast Retailing is edging down 0.1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is lower by more than 3 percent, while Toyota is rising more than 2 percent.
The major exporters are also mostly lower despite a weaker yen. Sony is losing more than 1 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is declining almost 1 percent and Canon is down 0.2 percent, while Panasonic is adding 0.2 percent.
In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is gaining more than 4 percent and Advantest is rising almost 4 percent. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is rising 0.5 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding 0.3 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Screen Holdings, Citizen Watch and Sumco Corp. are gaining almost 4 percent each. Subaru is rising more than 3 percent, while Inpex, Dena Co. and Haseko Corp. are higher by almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Mitsui OSK Lines is losing more than 5 percent, while Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Tokyo Electric Power and Kuraray Co. are lower by almost 5 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 104 yen-range on Friday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed mixed on Thursday in choppy trading as buying interest was somewhat subdued following recent strength. Despite the choppy trading, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached new record closing highs. Optimism about additional stimulus continued to support the markets along with largely upbeat earnings news, a slowdown in the rate of coronavirus infections and accelerated vaccine rollouts.
The Dow edged down 7.10 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 31,430.70, while the Nasdaq climbed 53.24 points or 0.4 percent to 14,025.77 and the S&P 500 rose 6.50 points or 0.2 percent to 3,916.38.
The major European markets closed mostly higher on Thursday. While the German DAX Index also advanced by 0.8 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index closed marginally lower.
Crude oil futures ended lower on Thursday, taking a breather after eight straight days of gains. Crude for May delivery fell $0.44 or about 0.8 percent to $58.24 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Japanese Market Drifts Lower
2021-02-12 02:04:05
