The Japanese stock market is notably lower on Tuesday, giving up some of the sharp gains of the previous session, with the benchmark Nikkei index just above the 27,500 mark, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders are spooked after more prefectures are under the state of emergency until the end of the month amid the surge in the coronavirus‘s delta variant infections.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 239.51 points or 0.86 percent to 27,541.51, after hitting a low of 27,492.40 earlier. Japanese shares closed sharply higher on Monday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 1 percent, while Toyota is flat.
In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 1 percent and Screen Holdings is adding almost 1 percent, while Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.4 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are losing almost 2 percent each.
The major exporters are mostly lower, with Sony losing more than 1 percent, Panasonic down almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric edging down 0.5 percent, while Canon is adding almost 1 percent.
Among the other major losers, Nexon and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are losing almost 5 percent each, while Asahi Group Holdings and Shionogi & Co. are down more than 3 percent each. NH Foods, Komatsu, Nippon Light Metal Holdings, JFE Holdings, JTEKT, Inpex, ENEOS Holdings, Nippon Steel and Ajinomoto are all declining almost 3 percent each, while Pacific Metals and ANA Holdings are down more than 2 percent each.
Conversely, Hino Motors is gaining almost 3 percent, while Alps Alpine is adding more than 2 percent. Kansai Electric Power, Z Holdings, Ebara and CyberAgent are down almost 2 percent each.
In economic news, consumer prices in the Tokyo region were down 0.1 percent on year in July, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and communications said on Tuesday. That was in line with expectations following the flat reading in June. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food prices, was up an annual 0.1 percent – exceeding expectations for a flat reading, which would have been unchanged. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, overall inflation was up 0.1 percent and core CPI rose 0.3 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 109 yen-range on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved to the upside early in the trading day on Monday but gave back ground over the course of the session. The major averages pulled back well off their early highs, with the Dow and the S&P 500 ending the day in negative territory.
After reaching a record intraday high in early trading, the Dow fell 97.31 points or 0.3 percent to 34,838.16. The S&P 500 also dipped 8.10 points or 0.2 percent to 4,387.16, while the Nasdaq inched up 8.39 points or 0.1 percent to 14,681.07.
Meanwhile, the major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.7 percent and the German DAX Index inched up by 0.2 percent.
Crude oil prices fell sharply Monday due to rising concerns about the outlook for energy demand amid a surge in the delta variant of the coronavirus in several countries. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September plunged $2.69 or 3.6 percent at $71.26 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Japanese Market Notably Lower
2021-08-03 02:27:57
