Japanese Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is notably lower on Monday after a long weekend, snapping a four-session winning streak, with the Nikkei 225 staying above the 29,000 mark , despite the broadly positive cues from global markets on Friday, with weakness across most sectors as the markets are catching up with their global peers after a three-day holiday.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 150.49 or 0.52 percent at 29,007.56, after hitting a low of 28,950.32 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly higher on Tuesday prior to the holidays on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down 2.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.4 percent and Toyota is losing almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is edging up 0.5 percent, while Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.2 percent. Advantest is flat.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing almost 1 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is down 1.5 percent and Mizuho Financial is slipping more than 1 percent.

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

Among the other major gainers, Eisai is gaining almost 4 percent, while Sojitz, Japan Tobacco and Odakyu Electric Railway are adding almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Shiseido is losing almost 5 percent.

In economic news, members of the Bank of Japan's Monetary Policy Board said that the country's economy has picked up steam, despite higher commodity prices, and it expected to continue to do so, minutes from the board's meeting on March 9 and 10 revealed on Monday.

Improved employment and household income have been primary factors in the economic recovery, the minutes continued. In terms of inflation, the board said it will continue qualitative and quantitative easing to as long as necessary to achieve the central bank's price target of 2 percent.

At the meeting, the BoJ left its ultra-loose monetary policy stance unchanged on Friday, maintaining a negative interest rate of -0.1 percent on current accounts that financial institutions maintain at the central bank.

Meanwhile, the services sector in Japan continued to expand in April, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Monday with a services PMI score of 55.4. That's up from 55.0 in March and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 134 yen-range on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower higher during trading on Friday, regaining ground after trending lower over the past several sessions. The major averages all showed significant moves back to the upside, with the Dow bouncing off its lowest closing level in over a month.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but still posted strong gains. The Dow jumped 546.64 points or 1.7 percent to 33,674.38, the Nasdaq spiked 269.01 points or 2.3 percent to 12,235.41 and the S&P 500 surged 75.03 points or 1.9 percent to 4,136.25.

The major European markets all also showed strong moves to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1.0 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index surged by 1.3 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Friday on easing recession concerns in some of the world's major economies. The West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $2.78 or 4.1 percent at $71.34 a barrel.