Japanese Market Modestly Lower

The Japanese stock market is modestly lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous three sessions, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 26,300 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, as traders remained cautious ahead of the release of key US inflation data later in the day that will provide cues on the outlook for interest rates.

Domestic data showing producer prices in Japan rose faster than expected in September also weighed on the market.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 107.13 points or 0.41 percent to 26,289.70, after hitting a low of 26,250.86 earlier. Japanese stocks closed slightly lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.5 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.5 percent and Toyota is flat.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is gaining more than 1 percent, while Advantest and Tokyo Electron are advancing almost 2 percent each.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are flat, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.4 percent.

Among the major exporters, Canon is edging down 0.3 percent and Sony is down almost 1 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic are edging up 0.3 percent each.

Among the other major losers, Toho is losing more than 4 percent, while Daikin Industries, JGC Holdings and ANA Holdings are down almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no major gaines.

In economic news, producer prices in Japan spiked 9.7 percent on year in September, the Bank of Japan said on Thursday. That far exceeded expectations for an increase of 8,8 percent and accelerated from the upwardly revised 9.4 percent increase in August (originally 9.0 percent). On a monthly basis, producer prices advanced 0.7 percent – again topping forecasts for 0.2 percent and up from the upwardly revised 0.4 percent in the previous month (originally 0.2 percent).

The value of overall bank lending in Japan was up 2.3 percent on year in September, the Bank of Japan said on Thursday – coming in at 590.536 trillion yen. That’s up from 1.9 percent in August. Excluding trusts, bank lending rose 2.6 percent on year to 513.986 trillion yen, while lending from trusts perked an annual 0.3 percent to 76.550 trillion yen. Lending from foreign banks climbed 2.7 percent to 3.834 trillion yen. For the third quarter of 2022, overall bank lending was up 2.0 percent on year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 146 yen-range on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks failed to hold early gains and ended lower on Wednesday with traders reacting to the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s most recent policy meeting, and looking ahead to the crucial consumer price inflation data.

Despite spending much of the day’s trading session in positive territory, the major averages all ended on a negative note. The Dow ended the day with a loss of 28.34 points or 0.1 percent at 29,210.85, the S&P 500 ended lower by 11.81 points or 0.33 percent at 3,577.03 and the Nasdaq settled at 10,417.10, posting a loss of 9.09 points or 0.09 percent.

The major European markets closed weak, extending recent losses, as global growth concerns, rising interest rates and geopolitical tensions continued to weigh. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 drifted down 0.86 percent, Germany’s DAX declined 0.39 percent and France’s CAC 40 shed 0.25 percent.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Wednesday, falling for a third straight session amid concerns about the outlook for demand due to slowing global growth after OPEC cut its demand forecast for this year. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended lower by $2.02 or 2.26 percent at $87.33 a barrel.

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