Japanese Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese market is notably lower in post-holiday trading on Thursday, reversing some of the gains in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling well below the 59,450 level, with weakness across most sectors led by automakers and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 498.08 points or 0.83 percent to 59,419.38, after hitting a low of 59,142.35 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Tuesday prior to the holiday on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.5 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing almost 3 percent and Honda is declining almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is declining almost 3 percent, Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.2 percent and Screen Holdings is losing almost 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is slipping almost 3 percent, Mizuho Financial is declining almost 4 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing almost 2 percent.

Among the major exporters, Panasonic is advancing almost 3 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is gaining more than 4 percent, while Canon is losing more than 1 percent and Sony is declining more than 3 percent.

Among other major losers, Fujitsu is tumbling almost 14 percent, Oriental Land is plummeting more than 9 percent, NEC is plunging almost 8 percent, Central Japan Railway is slipping more than 6 percent, ARCHION is sliding almost 6 percent and Astellas Pharma is declining more than 5 percent, while Isuzu Motors, East Japan Railway, Sumitomo Heavy Industries, West Japan Railway, Toyota Tsusho, Tokyo Gas, BANDAI NAMCO and Nomura Research Institute are all losing more than 4 percent each. Konami Group is down almost 4 percent.

Conversely, Sumco is jumping almost 16 percent, TDX is soaring almost 10 percent and Renesas Electronics is surging more than 9 percent, while Ajinomoto, Chubu Electric Power, Ibiden and Omron are advancing almost 5 percent each. Kioxia Holdings is gaining almost 4 percent, while Fuji Electric and Yaskawa Electric are adding more than 3 percent each. Shin-Etsu Chemical and JTEKT are up almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, retail sales in Japan increased 1.7 percent on year in March 2026, recovering from a downwardly revised 0.1 percent drop in the previous month and surpassing market expectations for a 0.8 percent gain. On a monthly basis, retail trade grew 1.3 percent, rebounding from a 2.0percent drop in February.

Japan's industrial production fell 0.5 percent on month in March 2026, missing market expectations of a 1.1 percent gain but easing from a 2.0 percent drop in the previous month. It marked the second straight decline in factory output. On an annual basis, output increased 2.3 percent, picking up from a 0.4 percent rise in February and marking the fastest pace since June 2025.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 160 yen-range on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Wednesday following the pullback seen in the previous session. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing narrowly mixed.

While the tech-heavy Nasdaq crept up 9.44 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 24,673.24, the S&P 500 edged down 2.85 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 7,135.95 and the narrower Dow ended the day more firmly negative, sliding 280.12 points or 0.6 percent to 48,861.81.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index dipped by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices surged again on Wednesday as an end to the Middle East war still remains elusive, keeping the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz in place. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery was up $6.79 or 6.79 percent at $106.72 per barrel.