The Japanese stock market is modestly lower on Thursday, extending the losses of the previous three sessions, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 just below the 28,700 level, following the mixed cues overnight from Wall Street. Traders remain cautious amid the signs of a resurgence of the highly infectious Delta variant of COVID-19 and the news of another impending State of Emergency in Tokyo and other major areas.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 110.72 points or 0.38 percent to 28,680.81, after hitting a low of 28,644.74 and a high of 28,833.17 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly lower on Wednesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing almost 1 percent and Honda is flat.
In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 2 percent, Screen Holdings is declining almost 4 percent and Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.4 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.2 percent, while Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are flat.
The major exporters are weak. Mitsubishi Electric is losing more than 5 percent, while Panasonic and Canon are losing almost 1 percent each. Sony is flat.
Among the other major losers, Mitsubishi Electric is losing more than 5 percent, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is down more than 4 percent and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines is declining almost 4 percent, while Nippon Yusen K.K. and DeNA are down more than 3 percent each. Trend Micro is losing almost 3 percent, while Konami Holdings, Seven & I Holdings and Nexon are down more than 2 percent each.
Conversely, Sumitomo Heavy Industries is gaining almost 4 percent, while MS&AD Insurance Group, Shinsei Bank, Komatsu, Minebea Mitsumi and Sompo Holdings are adding almost 2 percent each.
In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to improve in June, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Thursday, with a manufacturing PMI score of 52.4. That’s up from a preliminary estimate of 51.5 and a 53.0 in May and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the 111 yen-range on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed broadly higher on Wednesday as optimism about strong economic recovery outweighed concerns about inflation and possibility of interest rate hikes happening next year. Among the major averages, the Dow came back fairly strongly after suffering a setback in the previous session, the S&P 500 hit another record high, and the Nasdaq edged down marginally.
The major averages finished the day on opposite sides of the unchanged line. The Dow ended up by 210.22 points or 0.61 percent at 34,502.51 and the S&P 500 settled at 4,297.50, gaining 5.70 points or 0.12 percent, while the Nasdaq closed lower by 24.38 points or 0.17 percent at 14,503.95.
Meanwhile, the major European markets all closed weak on the day. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 ended 0.71 percent lower, Germany’s DAX declined 1.02 percent and France’s CAC 40 shed 0.91 percent.
Crude oil futures settled notably higher on Wednesday, lifted by data showing another weekly drop in U.S. crude inventories. Traders also looked ahead to the upcoming OPEC+ meeting on Thursday. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended up by $0.49 or about 0.7% at $73.47 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Japanese Market Modestly Lower
2021-07-01 02:31:35
