Japanese Market Significantly Lower

The Japanese stock market is significantly lower on Tuesday, snapping a three-session winning streak, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 38,900 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 447.12 points or 1.14 percent at 38,885.62, after hitting a low of 38,854.97 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 1 percent and Toyota is declining almost 3 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 2 percent, while Screen Holdings is losing more than 3 percent and Tokyo Electron is declining more than 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are losing more than 2 percent each, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is declining more than 3 percent.

The major exporters are mostly lower. Mitsubishi Electric is losing more than 2 percent, Panasonic is declining almost 1 percent and Sony is down almost 3 percent, while Canon is adding almost 1 percent.

Among the other major losers, Isetan Mitsukoshi, Nissan Motor, Chiba Bank and Concordia Financial are losing more than 4 percent each, while Yaskawa Electric is slipping almost 4 percent. Mitsui & Co., Shizuoka Financial, Mercari, Sumco and Mazda Motor are declining more than 3 percent each, while Dai-ichi Life, Keyence and Fukuoka Financial are down almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Kansai Electric Power is advancing more than 4 percent, Fujikura is gaining almost 4 percent and Fujitsu is adding more than 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 147 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks fell on Monday amid easing prospects of aggressive rate cuts by the Federal Reserve following a much higher than expected addition in U.S. non-payroll employment in the month of September.

The major averages all closed notably lower. The Dow tumbled 398.51 points or 0.94 percent to 41,954.24, the S&P 500 closed down 55.13 points or 0.96 percent at 5,695.94, while the Nasdaq recorded a more pronounced drop, falling by 213.95 points or 1.18 percent to settle at 17,923.90.

Meanwhile, the major European markets were mixed on the day. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 gained 0.28 percent and France’s CAC 40 closed up 0.46 percent, while the German DAX Index slid by 0.9 percent.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Monday amid the rising possibility of disruptions in supply in the Persian Gulf due to escalating tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November jumped $2.76 or 3.71 percent at $77.14 a barrel, the highest close in nearly eight weeks.

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