Japanese Market Modestly Lower

The Japanese stock market is modestly lower in choppy trading on Wednesday after being in the green briefly, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark Nikkei index just below the 28,200 level, following the negative cues overnight from Wall Street, with financial and technology stocks dragging the market.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 28,180.91, down 49.70 points or 0.18 percent, after hitting a low of 27,993.46 earlier. Japanese stocks closed significantly lower on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.1 percent, while Toyota is edging down 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is losing almost 2.5 percent, while Tokyo Electron and Advantest are declining more than 1 percent each.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing 1.5 percent, Mizuho Financial is down almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining more than 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Panasonic is losing more than 1 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.4 percent and Sony is declining almost 1 percent, while Canon is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among the other major losers, Taiyo Yuden is losing almost 5 percent, while Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha are down more than 3 percent each. Nippon Yusen K.K. and Tokyo Electric Power are declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, J. Front Retailing is soaring more than 9 percent and Toho is gaining more than 5 percent, while Mitsubishi Motors, JGC Holdings, Mazda Motor and Fujikura are adding almost 4 percent each. Nippon Sheet Glass is up more than 3 percent, while Japan Steel Works and Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings are up almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, the value of core machine orders in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 2.4 percent on month in August, the Cabinet Office said on Wednesday – coming in at 839.3 billion yen. That missed expectations for an increase of 1.7 percent following the 0.9 percent gain in July. On a yearly basis, core machine orders jumped 17.0 percent – exceeding forecasts for a gain of 14.7 percent following the 11.1 percent increase in the previous month. For the third quarter of 2021, core machine orders are forecast to climb 11.0 percent on quarter and 24.4 percent on year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 113 yen-range on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction throughout the trading day on Tuesday, following the downturn seen over the course of the previous session. The major averages spent most of the session lingering near the unchanged line.

The major averages eventually ended the day modestly lower. The Dow dipped 117.72 points or 0.3 percent to 34,378.34, the Nasdaq edged down 20.28 points or 0.1 percent to 14,465.93 and the S&P 500 slipped 10.54 points or 0.2 percent to 4,350.65.

The major European markets also showed more modest moves to the downside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both dipped by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil futures settled slightly higher Tuesday after prices moved up amid speculation the fuel market could get tighter this winter. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November rose $0.12 or about 0.2 percent at $80.64 a barrel.

Market Analysis