Japanese Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is modestly lower in choppy trading on Thursday, giving up some of the gains in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 33,500 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, dragged by weakness in technology stocks which mirrored their peers on the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 89.97 points or 0.27 percent to 33,485.17, after hitting a low of 33,432.19 earlier. Japanese stocks closed notably higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining more than 1 percent and Honda is adding almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is losing more than 1 percent, Tokyo Electron is declining almost 3 percent and Advantest is slipping more than 4 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining 2.5 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are adding almost 2 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Panasonic is gaining almost 3 percent, Canon is adding more than 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is up almost 1 percent, while Sony is edging down 0.5 percent.

There are no other major losers.

Conversely, Marubeni is gaining 4.5 percent, while Sojitz and Kawasaki Heavy Industries are adding almost 4 percent each. Itochu, Sompo Holdings, Kansai Electric Power, Chiba Bank and Nippon Sheet Glass are advancing more than 3 percent each, while Japan Exchange Group, Tokyo Electric Power and Kajima are up almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 141 yen-range on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stock saw further downside during trading on Wednesday after moving mostly lower over the two previous sessions. The major averages all finished the day in negative territory, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the slide.

The Nasdaq tumbled 165.10 or 1.2 percent to 13,502.20, continuing to give back ground after ending last Thursday's trading at its best closing level in over a year. The S&P 500 also fell 23.02 points or 0.5 percent to 4,365.69, while the Dow dipped 102.35 points or 0.3 percent to 33,951.52.

The major European markets also 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 slid by 0.5 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday amid hopes about the outlook for demand in the U.S. and forecasts for a drawdown in U.S. crude stocks last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $1.34 at $72.53 a barrel, recovering from a low of $70.80.