The Japanese stock market is lower in choppy trading on Wednesday, reversing the gains of the previous session, with the benchmark Nikkei index above the 29,600 level, as traders are cautious amid the continued surge in coronavirus infections, with daily cases in Osaka breaching the 1,000 mark. However, the cues overnight from Wall Street were largely positive.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 93.49 points or 0.31 percent to 29,658.12, after touching a high of 29,867.94 and a low of 29,567.18 earlier in choppy trading. Japanese stocks closed higher on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.1 percent, while Toyota is edging down 0.2 percent.
In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is up almost 1 percent, while Screen Holdings and Advantest are adding more than 1 percent each. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are declining almost 1 percent each.
Among the major exporters, Panasonic and Mitsubishi Electric are edging down 0.5 percent each, while Sony is gaining almost 1 percent and Canon is adding almost 2 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Rakuten is adding more than 5 percent, while Seiko Epson and Kubota are gaining more than 2 percent each. Z Holdings, CyberAgent, Fujifilm Holdings, Ricoh and Konica Minolta is up almost 2 percent. Nippon Sheet is up more than 1 percent.
Conversely, J. Front Retailing is plummeting almost 9 percent, while T&D Holdings, Toray Industries and Hitachi Zosen are losing almost 4 percent each. Otsuka Holdings is down more than 3 percent, while Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings and Amada are declining almost 3 percent each.
In economic news, the value of core machine orders in Japan tumbled a seasonally adjusted 8.5 percent on month in February, the Cabinet Office said on Wednesday – coming in at 769.8 billion yen. That badly missed expectations for an increase of 2.8 percent following the 4.5 percent decline in January. On a yearly basis, core machine orders sank 7.1 percent – again missing forecasts for an increase of 2.3 percent following the 1.5 percent gain in the previous month. For the first quarter of 2021, core machine orders are seen lower by 6.0 percent on quarter and 5.2 percent on year.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 108 yen-range on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks ended mixed on Tuesday, with investors reacting to the data on consumer price inflation and news about the drug regulators recommending a pause to the rollout of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine. Investors are also looking ahead to the upcoming earnings announcements from big banks, and a slew of crucial economic data.
Technology stocks gained in strength and lifted the Nasdaq Composite Index up by over 1 percent to a new high. The S&P 500 also posted a new high, while the Dow closed on a negative note.
The major averages are exhibiting a mixed trend. The Dow ended down 68.13 points or 0.2 percent at 33,677.27. The S&P 500 advanced 13.60 points or 0.33 percent to 4,141.59, while the Nasdaq moved up 146.10 points or 1.05 percent to 13,996.10.
Meanwhile, the major European markets closed slightly up on the day. While The U.K.’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.02 percent, Germany’s DAX gained 0.13 percent and France’s CAC 40 moved up 0.36 percent.
Crude oil prices moved higher on Tuesday, lifted by an upward revision in energy demand forecast by OPEC. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $0.48 or 0.8 percent at $60.18 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Japanese Market Lower
2021-04-14 02:30:35
