The Japanese stock market is modestly lower in choppy trading on Monday, giving up some of the sharp in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 staying above the 26,400 level, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, amid lingering geopolitical concerns on the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine crisis resulting in sanctions and threats of nuclear deployment.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 68.71 points or 0.26 percent at 26,407.79, after hitting a low of 26,262.63 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Friday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.4 percent. Among automakers, Honda and Toyota are gaining almost 1 percent each.
In the tech space, Advantest is losing 1.5 percent and Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.5 percent, while Screen Holdings is gaining almost 2 percent. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.3 percent, while Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.5 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging down 0.2 percent.
The major exporters are lower, with Panasonic gaining more than 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.4 percent, while Sony is declining almost 1 percent. Canon is flat.
Among the other major losers, Mitsui & Co. is losing more than 5 percent and Japan Tobacco is declining almost 3 percent.
Conversely, Toho Zinc is surging almost 7 percent, JGC Holdings is gaining almost 6 percent and JFE Holdings is adding more than 4 percent, while Dowa Holdings, Sumitomo Metal Mining, Pacific Metals, Hitachi Zosen and IHI are up almost 4 percent each. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Nippon Steel, GS Yuasa, Mitsubishi Materials and Kobe Steel are advancing more than 3 percent each.
In economic news, industrial output in Japan fell a seasonally adjusted 1.3 percent on month in January, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Monday. That missed expectations for a decline of 0.7 percent following the 1.0 percent drop in December. On a yearly basis, industrial production sank 0.9 percent – again shy of expectations for a fall of 0.5 percent following the 2.7 percent increase in the previous month. According to the METI’s forecast for industrial production, output is expected to rise 5.7 percent on February and 0.1 percent in March.
The METI also said that the value of retail sales in Japan was up 1.6 percent on year in January. That beat expectations for an increase of 1.4 percent and was up from the downwardly revised 1.2 percent gain in the previous month (originally 1.4 percent). On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail sales tumbled 1.9 percent – missing forecasts for a fall of 1.5 percent following the downwardly revised 1.2 percent decline in December (originally -1.0 percent).
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid 115 yen-range on Monday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Friday extending the stunning recovery seen over the course of the previous session. The major averages all showed significant moves to the upside on the day.
Going into the close of trading, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached new highs for the session. The Dow soared 834.92 points or 2.5 percent at 34,058.75, the Nasdaq surged 221.04 points or 1.6 percent to 13,694.62 and the S&P 500 spiked 95.95 points or 2.2 percent to 4,384.65.
The major European markets also showed substantial moves to the upside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index soared by 3.9 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index spiked by 3.7 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively.
Crude oil futures settled lower Friday but posted a weekly gain as traders weighed the possibility of disruptions to global crude supplies due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down by $1.22 or about 1.3 percent at $91.59 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Japanese Market Modestly Lower
2022-02-28 02:32:42
