The Japanese stock market is slightly lower in choppy trading on Tuesday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 staying below the 28,000 mark, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, after domestic GDP data came in lower than expected. Traders also remained cautious amid concerns about the outlook for interest rate hikes.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 29.03 points or 0.10 percent at 27,934.44, after hitting a low of 27,903.27 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Monday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda and Toyota are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each.
In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 1 percent and Screen Holdings is edging up 0.2 percent, while Tokyo Electron is losing more than 1 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining almost 2 percent, Mizuho Financial is adding more than 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is surging more than 4 percent.
The major exporters are mixed, with Sony losing almost 1 percent and Panasonic edging down 0.5 percent, while Canon is edging up 0.3 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is gaining more than 1 percent.
Among the other major losers, Recruit Holdings is plummeting almost 10 percent, while Japan Steel Works and Citizen Watch are plunging almost 8 percent each. Dentsu Group is sliding more than 6 percent, SMC is losing more than 4 percent and M3 is declining more than 3 percent, while Toto and Ebara are down almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Eisai is surging almost 6 percent and Taiheiyo Cement is gaining more than 3 percent, while Nippon Paper Industries, Seven & I Holdings, Pacific Metals, Astellas Pharma and Olympus are adding almost 3 percent each.
In economic news, Japan’s gross domestic product was down an annualized 1.2 percent on year in the third quarter of 2022, the Cabinet Office said in Tuesday’s preliminary reading. That missed expectations for an increase of 1.1 percent following the upwardly revised 4.6 percent expansion in the previous quarter (originally 3.5 percent). On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, GDP fell 0.3 percent – again shy of forecasts for an increase of 0.3 percent following the upwardly revised 1.1 percent growth in the three months prior (originally 0.9 percent).
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 140 yen-range on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Monday following the substantial upward move seen last week. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing in negative territory.
The major averages came under pressure going into the close, ending the session near their worst levels of the day. The Dow slid 211.16 points or 0.6 percent to 33,536.70, the Nasdaq tumbled 127.11 points or 1.1 percent to 11,196.22 and the S&P 500 slumped 35.68 points or 0.9 percent to 3,957.25.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index climbed by 0.6 percent and the French CAC 40 Index edged up by 0.2 percent.
Crude oil prices slumped Monday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand from China, a downward revision in demand growth forecast by OPEC and a stronger dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended lower by $3.09 or 3.5 percent at $85.87 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Japanese Market Slightly Lower
2022-11-15 02:12:34
