The Japanese stock market is modestly lower after dipping sharply in early deals on Tuesday, extending the losses of the previous four sessions, with the benchmark Nikkei index above the 27,500 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as a surge in the coronavirus‘s delta variant infections sparked a broad sell-off and renewed virus fears gripped markets ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.
The market clawed back after an early drop following local data that showed Japan’s consumer prices rose by 0.2 percent year-over-year in June, the first increase since August 2020.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 133.69 points or 0.48 percent to 27,519.05, after hitting a low of 27,330.15 earlier. Japanese shares closed sharply lower on Monday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 2 percent and Toyota is down more than 1 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings are gaining 0.5 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is adding almost 1 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing almost 2 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are down more than 1 percent each.
The major exporters are mostly lower, with Sony and Panasonic losing almost 2 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.3 percent. Canon is soaring more than 8 percent.
Among the other major losers, Inpex is losing almost 4 percent, while Dentsu Group, Isuzu Motors, CyberAgent and Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings are down almost 3 percent each. Sumitomo Chemical, Hino Motors, Mitsui Fudosan, GS Yuasa, Toho Zinc, Fanuc, Fujikura, East Japan Railway, Tokyo Tatemono and Sumitomo Metal Mining are all down more than 2 percent each.
Conversely, Seiko Epson is gaining more than 5 percent, Nikon is adding more than 3 percent, Ricoh is up almost 3 percent and Nichirei is rising almost 2 percent.
In economic news, overall consumer prices in Japan were up 0.2 percent on year in June, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Tuesday. That was in line with expectations following the 0.1 percent decline in May. Core consumer prices, which exclude volatile food prices, also gained an annual 0.2 percent. That too matched estimates following the 0.1 percent increase in the previous month. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, overall inflation was up 0.3 percent and core consumer prices rose 0.1 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid-109 yen-range on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower during trading on Monday, extending the pullback seen over the course of last Friday’s session. With the steep drop on the day, the major averages ended the session at their lowest closing levels in almost a month.
The major averages regained some ground going into the close but remained firmly negative. The Dow plunged 725.81 points or 2.1 percent to 33,962.04, the Nasdaq slumped 152.25 points or 1.1 percent to 14,274.98 and the S&P 500 tumbled 68.67 points or 1.6 percent to 4,258.49.
The major European markets also showed significant moves to the downside. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index plunged 2.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index plummeted 2.5 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices fell sharply on Monday, weighed down by concerns about oversupply in the market after OPEC+ agreed to boost output. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September sank $5.21 or 7.3 percent at $66.35 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Japanese Market Modestly Lower
2021-07-20 02:24:19
