The Japanese stock market is notably lower on Wednesday, snapping a winning streak of three sessions, with the benchmark Nikkei index just below the 27,700 level, following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street. Traders are also concerned about the reports that the IMF cut this year’s economic growth forecast for Japan and the country’s continuing struggle to contain the spread of the new wave of coronavirus cases.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 310.79 points or 1.11 percent to 27,659.43, after hitting a low of 27,574.98 earlier. Japanese stocks closed modestly higher on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.5 percent, while Toyota is edging down 0.3 percent.
In the tech space, Screen Holdings is losing almost 3 percent, Tokyo Electron is down more than 2 percent and Advantest is declining more than 3 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging down 0.3 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is flat.
Among the major exporters, Panasonic is edging down 0.3 percent, Canon is losing more than 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is losing almost 1 percent, while Sony is gaining almost 1 percent.
Among the other major losers, Sumco is losing more than 7 percent, while Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, M3 and Z Holdings are down more than 3 percent each. Recruit Holdings, Nippon Express, Kikkoman, Fujitsu, Keisei Electric Railway and Shimizu are declining more than 2 percent each.
Conversely, Mitsubishi Motors is gaining more than 8 percent, Nisshin Seifun Group in adding almost 5 percent, Nissan Motor is up almost 4 percent and Nippon Steel is rising almost 3 percent, while Tokuyama, Hitachi Zosen, JFE Holdings, Tosoh, Mazda Motor and Kobe Steel are all rising almost 2 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 109 yen-range on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved to the downside during trading on Tuesday, giving back ground after closing higher for five consecutive sessions. With the drop on the day, the major averages pulled back off the record closing highs set on Monday.
The major averages all closed in negative territory, although the tech-heavy Nasdaq underperformed its counter parts by a wide margin. While the Nasdaq tumbled 180.14 points or 1.2 percent to 14,660.58, the S&P 500 fell 20.84 points or 0.5 percent to 4,401.46 and the Dow dipped 85.79 points or 0.2 percent to 35,058.52.
The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.6 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.
Crude oil priced drifted lower on Tuesday after moving around the flat line for much of the day’s session, with traders weighing demand prospects and looking ahead to weekly inventory data. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for September dipped $0.26 or 0.4 percent at $71.65 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Japanese Market Notably Lower
2021-07-28 02:35:45
