Japanese Market Modestly Lower

The Japanese stock market is modestly lower on Wednesday, giving up the slight gains in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling well below the 39,200 level, with losses across most sectors led by index heavyweights and financial stocks as some traders booked profits following the recent gains in the market.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 105.26 or 0.27 percent at 39,134.26, after hitting a low of 39,075.47 earlier. Japanese stocks ended slightly higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.2 percent and Toyota is losing almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is edging up 0.1 percent and Tokyo Electron is gaining more than 1 percent, while Screen Holdings is edging down 0.4 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is losing almost 2 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are down more than 1 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Sony is losing more than 1 percent, while Canon and Panasonic are down almost 1 percent each. Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.1 percent.

Among other major losers, Omron is losing almost 4 percent, while Renesas Electronics and Mitsui Fudosan are declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, DeNA is skyrocketing more than 24 percent, Fujikura is surging more than 6 percent, Tokyo Electric Power is gaining more than 4 percent and CyberAgent is advancing almost 4 percent, while Hitachi Construction Machinery and Sumitomo Chemical are adding more than 3 percent each. M3, Mitsubishi Estate, Konica Minolta and NTN are advancing almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 150 yen-range on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Tuesday following the modest pullback seen in the previous session. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually ending the day mixed.

While the Nasdaq climbed 59.05 points or 0.4 percent to 16,035.30 and the S&P 500 edged up 8.65 points or 0.2 percent to 5,078.18, the Dow dipped 96.82 points or 0.3 percent to 38,972.41.

The major European markets also moved mostly higher on the day. While the German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.2 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index closed marginally lower.

Crude oil prices moved higher Tuesday on supply concerns due to the disruptions in the Red Sea route and amid uncertainty about a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $1.29 or 1.66 percent at $78.87 a barrel.

Market Analysis