Japanese Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - Extending the losses in the previous session, the Japanese stock market is notably lower on Friday, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight. The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell below the 31,300 level, dragged by weakness in index heavyweights, exporters and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 184.67 points or 0.59 percent to 31,245.95, after hitting a low of 31,093.90 earlier. Japanese stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.4 percent, while Screen Holdings is edging up 0.2 percent.

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

Among major exporters, Canon is losing almost 2 percent, Sony is down more than 1 percent, Panasonic is declining almost 4 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.3 percent.

Among other major losers, Taiyo Yuden is losing more than 4 percent and Mitsubishi Chemical is declining almost 3 percent, while Mazda Motor, NEC, Sumitomo Pharma and Shiseido are down almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Daiichi Sankyo is skyrocketing almost 12 percent.

In economic news, overall consumer prices in Japan were up 3.0 percent on year in September, the Ministry of Communications and Internal Affairs said on Friday. That was in line with expectations and down from 3.2 percent in August. On a monthly basis, inflation rose 0.3 percent, again matching forecasts and accelerating from 0.2 percent in the previous month.

Core CPI, which excludes the volatile costs of food, rose 2.8 percent on year, exceeding expectations for a 2.7 percent rise and slowing from 3.1 percent a month earlier. Core CPI rose 0.2 percent on month, easing from 0.3 percent in August.

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

On Wall Street, stocks saw significant volatility over the course of the trading day on Thursday after ending Wednesday's session sharply lower. The major averages swung back and forth across the unchanged line before ending the day firmly in the red.

The major averages fell to new lows going into the close of trading. The Dow fell 250.91 points or 0.8 percent to 33,414.17, the Nasdaq slumped 128.13 points or 1.0 percent to 13,186.18 and the S&P 500 slid 36.60 points or 0.9 percent to 4,278.00.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped 1.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.6 percent and the German DAX Index fell by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil futures settled higher Thursday after early losses, as Israel reportedly prepared to move into Gaza to fight against Hamas. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November added $1.05 or 1.2 percent at $89.37 a barrel.