Japanese Market Sharply Lower; Down 2.4%

(RTTNews) - Extending the sharp losses in the previous session, the Japanese market is sharply lower on Friday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling 2.4 percent to below the 33,900 level, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights, financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 839.18 points or 2.42 percent to 33,896.75, after hitting a low of 33,811.30 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 6 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is losing more than 5 percent and Honda is also down more than 5 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is tumbling more than 8 percent, Tokyo Electron is declining more than 3 percent and Screen Holdings is losing more than 4 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is slipping more than 9 percent, Mizuho Financial is tumbling more than 11 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining almost 10 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony and Mitsubishi Electric are losing more than 4 percent each, while Panasonic is down almost 4 percent and Canon is declining more than 2 percent.

Among other major losers, Resona Holdings is plummeting almost 11 percent, while Fujikura and Renesas Electronics are tumbling more than 10 percent each. Resonac Holdings, Fukuoka Financial and Taiyo Yuden are slipping more than 9 percent each, while Chiba Bank is sliding almost 9 percent and Hitachi is declining more than 8 percent. Yokohama Rubber and Shizuoka Financial are losing almost 8 percent each, while TDK is down more than 7 percent.

Conversely, Mitsui Fudosan, Sumitomo Pharma and Nitori Holdings are gaining more than 5 percent each, while East Japan Railway is adding more than 4 percent. Kyowa Kirin, KDDI, Secom, Terumo and Daiichi Sankyo are advancing almost 4 percent each, while Chugai Pharmaceutical, Odakyu Electric Railway and Otsuka Holdings are up more than 3 percent each. ZOZO, Mitsubishi Estate and Nomura Research Institute are rising almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 146 yen-range on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks plummeted during trading on Thursday amid concerns about a global trade war following President Donald Trump's tariff announcement. The sell-off dragged the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 down to their lowest levels since last August, while the Dow slumped to a nearly seven-month closing low.

The major averages saw further downside going into the close, ending the session near their worst levels of the day. The Nasdaq plummeted 1,050.44 points or 6.0 percent to 16,550.61, the S&P 500 plunged 274.45 points or 4.8 percent to 5,396.52 and the Dow tumbled 1,696.39 points or 4.0 percent to 40,545.93.

The major European markets also showed significant moves to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index plummeted 3.3 percent, the German DAX Index dove by 3.0 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index tumbled by 1.6 percent.

Crude oil prices pulled back sharply on Thursday after the U.S. implemented its tariffs, while additional selling pressure came after OPEC said it would speed up previously announced increases in output. Crude for May delivery plummeted $4.76 or 6.6 percent to $66.95 a barrel.