Japanese Market Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading sharply lower on Wednesday, extending to the losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling well below the 39,000 mark, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights and automaker stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 464.03 or 1.18 percent at 38,912.06, after hitting a low of 38,814.07 earlier. Japanese stocks ended modestly lower on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down 1.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing 3.5 percent and Toyota is declining 1.5 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is edging down 0.4 percent, while Tokyo Electron is adding almost 3 percent and Screen Holdings is gaining more than 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing almost 1 percent, while Mizuho Financial is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony is losing more than 1 percent and Canon is down almost 1 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.5 percent and Panasonic is gaining more than 1 percent.

Among other major losers, NEXON is plummeting almost 14 percent and Sumitomo Metal Mining is sliding almost 8 percent, while Daiichi Sankyo and JGC Holdings are slipping more than 5 percent each. Japan Exchange is down more than 4 percent, while Hitachi, Recruit Holdings, Sumitomo Realty & Development, Tokyo Tatemono and DeNA are losing more than 3 percent each. Terumo, Konami Group, Yamaha Motor and Otsuka Holdings are declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Sharp is skyrocketing almost 13 percent and Resona Holdings is gaining almost 4 percent, while Marui Group and Furukawa Electric are adding almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, producer prices in Japan were up 0.2 percent on month in October, the Bank of Japan said on Wednesday. That exceeded expectations for a flat reading and was down from the upwardly revised 0.3 percent in September (originally flat).

On a yearly basis, producer prices climbed 3.4 percent - again beating forecasts for 2.9 percent and up from the upwardly revised 3.1 percent in the previous month (originally 2.9 percent). Export prices were flat on month and up 0.6 percent on year, the bank said, while import prices fell 0.2 percent on month and 2.1 percent on year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 154 yen-range on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks gave back ground during trading on Tuesday following the strong upward move seen in reaction to last week's last elections. The major averages fluctuated over the course of the trading session before eventually closing in negative territory.

The Dow underperformed its counterparts, slumping 382.15 points or 0.9 percent to 43,910.98. The S&P 500 dipped 17.36 points or 0.3 percent to 5,983.99 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq edged down 17.36 points or 0.1 percent to 19,281.40.

The major European markets also showed significant moves to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index plunged by 2.7 percent, the German DAX Index tumbled by 2.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 1.2 percent.

Crude oil prices edged up only a bit on Tuesday after OPEC lowered its global oil demand forecast for 2025, while the dollar's continued strength hurt as well. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December rose $0.08 at $68.12 a barrel.