Japanese Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - After opening in the green, the Japanese stock market is currently trading modestly lower on Monday, giving up some of the gains in the previous two sessions. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well below the 33,600 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday, with weakness in exporters partially offset by gains in technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 114.32 or 0.34 percent at 33,511.21, after hitting a low of 33,486.18 and a high of 33,811.41 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably higher on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda and Toyota are losing almost 1 percent each.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is gaining 2.5 percent, Advantest is adding almost 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining more than 1 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding 1.5 percent and Mizuho Financial is advancing more than 1 percent.

The major exporters are mixed. Canon and Panasonic are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is losing almost 2 percent. Sony is gaining more than 1 percent.

Among other major losers, CyberAgent is declining almost 5 percent, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is losing more than 5 percent and Sumitomo Metal Mining is down almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Sumco and Credit Saison are gaining almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 149 yen-range on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a lackluster performance throughout the trading session on Friday, as many traders continued to enjoy the Thanksgiving Day holiday. Despite the choppy trading, the Dow and the S&P 500 ended the day at their best closing levels in well over three months.

The major averages finished the session narrowly mixed. While the Nasdaq edged down 15.00 points or 0.1 percent to 14,250.85, the S&P 500 crept up 2.72 points or 0.1 percent to 4,559.34 and the Dow rose 117.12 points or 0.3 percent to 35,390.15.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved modestly higher on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both rose by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Friday, with traders waiting on a crucial OPEC meeting this week as oil producers struggling to come to a consensus on production levels. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended lower by $1.56 or 2 percent at $75.54 a barrel.