Japanese Market Modestly Lower

The Japanese stock market is trading modestly lower in choppy trading on Wednesday, reversing the gains in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling well below the 38,400 level, with weakness across most sectors led by financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 86.71 or 0.23 percent at 38,327.72, after touching a high of 38,520.45 and a low of 38,300.01 earlier. Japanese stocks ended notably higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.4 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 1 percent and Toyota is down almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are losing almost 1 percent each, while Screen Holdings is down 1.5 percent.

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

Among the major exporters, Sony is gaining more than 3 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.2 percent, while Canon is edging down 0.3 percent and Panasonic is losing more than 1 percent.

Among other major losers, Tokio Marine Holdings is plunging more than 7 percent and MS&AD Insurance is declining almost 5 percent.

Conversely, Sompo Holdings and Tokyo Gas are skyrocketing more than 11 percent each, while Seven & I Holdings is surging almost 9 percent. Konica Minolta and Nidec are gaining more than 4 percent each, while Japan Steel Works is adding more than 3 percent. Sharp, CyberAgent and Yamaha are advancing almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, Japan posted a merchandise trade deficit of 461,2 billion yen in October, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday. That missed forecasts for a shortfall of 360.4 billion yen following the upwardly revised 294.1 billion yen deficit in September.

Exports were up 3.1 percent on year at 9.426 trillion yen – exceeding expectations for an increase of 2.2 percent following the 1.7 percent decline in the previous month. Imports rose an annual 0.4 percent to 9.887 trillion yen versus forecasts for a decline of 0.3 percent following the 1.8 percent increase a month earlier.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 154 yen-range on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks moved to the downside early in the session on Tuesday but showed a significant rebound over the course of the trading day. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 climbed well off their early lows and into positive territory, although the narrower Dow remained stuck in the red.

The major averages eventually ended the day mixed. While the Dow fell 120.66 points or 0.3 percent to 43,268.94, the S&P 500 rose 23.36 points or 0.4 percent to 5,916.98 and the Nasdaq jumped 195.66 points or 1.0 percent to 18,987.47.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both slide by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices settled higher on Tuesday amid the rising possibility of supply disruptions after Ukraine launched long-range U.S. made missiles to hit a facility in Russia’s Bryansk region. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December rose $0.23 or about 0.3 percent at $69.39 a barrel.

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