The Japanese stock market is significantly lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous four sessions, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 falling to be a tad above 26,200 level, following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, amid escalation of the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Ukraine has declared a state of emergency and Moscow has begun evacuating its Kyiv embassy.
Traders continue to be concerned about the spike in domestic new coronavirus infections, though on a steady decline and off record highs.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 242.94 points or 0.92 percent to 26,206.67, after hitting a low of 26,122.83 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Wednesday prior to the holiday on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 3 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down more than 2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota and Honda are losing almost 1 percent each.
In the tech space, Advantest is losing more than 1 percent and Screen Holdings is declining 3.5 percent, while Tokyo Electron is gaining more than 1 percent.
In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.2 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is flat and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging down 0.5 percent.
The major exporters are mixed. Sony and Canon are losing almost 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is down more than 2 percent and Panasonic is declining more than 1 percent.
Among the other major losers, Keio, Odakyu Electric Railway and Fujikura is slipping almost 5 percent each, while Shimizu, Secom and Fanuc are losing more than 4 percent each. Yokohama Rubber, Astellas Pharma and Furukawa Electric are declining almost 4 percent each, while Bridgestone, Mitsubishi, Nippon Paper Industries, Toto and Dai Nippon Printing are sliding more than 3 percent each.
Conversely, Bandai Namco Holdings is gaining almost 6 percent, while Nexon, Sumitomo Metal Mining and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha are adding more than 3 percent each. Recruit Holdings and Dowa Holdings are up almost 3 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the 115 yen-range on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day on Wednesday, extending the sell-off seen over the three previous sessions. The major averages moved to the upside early in the session but showed a substantial downturn as the day progressed.
The major averages saw further downside going into the close, ending the session near their worst levels of the day. The Dow plunged 464.85 points or 1.4 percent to 33,131.76, the Nasdaq dove 344.03 points or 2.6 percent to 13,037.49 and the S&P 500 plummeted 79.26 points or 1.8 percent to 4,225.50.
Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index fell by 0.4 percent.
Crude oil prices settled modestly higher on Wednesday, with investors weighing the impact of the Russia-Ukraine crisis on oil supplies, the likelihood of Iranian crude to the market, and the latest data on U.S. crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $0.19 or about 0.2 percent at $92.10 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Japanese Market Significantly Lower
2022-02-24 02:23:42
