The Japanese stock market is significantly lower on Wednesday, giving up the gains in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 28,000 mark, despite the broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street, amid concerns about the economic impact of the weaker yen combined with the effects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the ongoing pandemic.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 330.44 points or 1.17 percent at 27,921.98, after hitting a low of 27,911.55 earlier. Japanese stocks closed significantly higher on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is declining almost 1 percent and Toyota is losing more than 1 percent.
In the tech space, Screen Holdings is edging down 0.3 percent, while Advantest is adding more than 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is down more than 1 percent.
In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is losing more than 3 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is down 2.5 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is declining almost 3 percent.
Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is losing more than 2 percent, Canon is edging down 0.5 percent and Panasonic is down more than 1 percent, while Sony is gaining almost 1 percent.
Among the other major losers, Nippon Yusen, Inpex, Nippon Telegraph & Telephone and Tokyo Gas are losing more than 3 percent each, while KDDI, Daiwa Securities, Nippon Steel, Nintendo, Maruha Nichiro, Nippon Suisan Kaisha, JGC Holdings and Idemitsu Kosan are all down almost 3 percent each.
ConverselyM3 and Shiseido are gaining more than 3 percent each, while Tokyo Electric Power is adding almost 3 percent.
In economic news, the total value of retail sales in Japan was down 0.8 percent on year in February, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Wednesday – coming in at 11.537 trillion yen. That missed expectations for a loss of 0.3 percent following the downwardly revised 1.1 percent increase in January (originally 1.6 percent). On a monthly basis, retail sales were again down 0.8 percent after slipping 0.9 percent in the previous month.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 122 yen-range on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed on a firm note on Tuesday with technology shares turning in another strong performance. Slightly easing concerns about inflation following a drop in crude oil prices and encouraging progress in the cease-fire talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey helped lift investor sentiment.
The major averages all ended with solid gains. The Dow closed with a gain of 338.30 points or 0.97 percent at 35,294.19. The S&P 500 closed higher by 56.08 points or 1.23 percent at 4,631.60, and the Nasdaq settled at 14,619.64 with a gain of 264.73 points or 1.84 percent.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 advanced 0.86 percent, Germany’s DAX surged up 2.79 percent and France’s CAC 40 gained 3.08 percent.
Crude oil prices dropped on Tuesday amid easing worries about global crude supply after positive reports of the peace talks. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for May ended down by $1.72 or 1.6 percent at $104.24 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Japanese Market Significantly Lower
2022-03-30 02:28:37
