The Japanese stock market is modestly lower after opening with a steep loss on Wednesday, paring some of the gains of the previous two sessions, with the benchmark Nikkei index falling below the 28,700 level, following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street. Traders remain concerned amid the recent acceleration in the new wave of coronavirus cases, particularly in Olympic city Tokyo.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 69.92 points or 0.24 percent to 28,648.32, after hitting a low of 28,482.82 earlier. Japanese stocks closed modestly higher on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.5 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.2 percent and Toyota is gaining almost 1 percent.
In the tech space, Screen Holdings is gaining more than 1 percent, Advantest is edging up 0.4 percent and Tokyo Electron is adding almost 1 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are losing almost 1 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is down 1 percent.
Among the major exporters, Panasonic is losing almost 1 percent, while Canon is gaining almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is rising almost 2 percent. Sony is flat.
Among the other major losers, Fujifilm Holdings and Yokohama Rubber are losing almost 4 percent each, while Bridgestone is down more than 3 percent. Kawasaki Heavy Industries is declining almost 3 percent, while Shiseido, Toray Industries, Yaskawa Electric, ANA Holdings and Isuzu Motors are lower by more than 2 percent each.
Conversely, Toho is gaining more than 10 percent and Z Holdings is adding more than 3 percent, while Dai Nippon Printing, Japan Exchange Group and Toppan Printing are up almost 3 percent each. Alps Alpine and Kajima are rising more than 2 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid-110 yen-range on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved back to the downside during trading on Tuesday after ending the previous session modestly higher. With the drop on the day, the major averages pulled back off Monday’s record closing highs.
The major averages all finished the day in negative territory. The Dow slipped 107.39 points or 0.3 percent to 34,888.79, the Nasdaq fell 55.59 points or 0.4 percent to 14,677.65 and the S&P 500 dipped 15.42 points or 0.4 percent to 4,369.21.
Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day roughly flat. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index all ended the day just below the unchanged line.
Crude oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday amid expectations crude stockpiles may have dropped last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended up $1.15 or 1.6 percent at $75.25 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Japanese Market Modestly Lower
2021-07-14 02:28:11
