Japanese Market Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading sharply lower on Tuesday, reversing the sharp gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei 225 falling well below the 37,300 level, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks, after US President Donald Trump confirmed he will move forward with higher tariffs on major trading partners. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 533.50 points or 1.41 percent at 37,251.97, after hitting a low of 37,225.38 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 2 percent and Toyota is declining almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is slipping 7.5 percent and Tokyo Electron is losing almost 2 percent, while Screen Holdings is flat.

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

The major exporters are mostly lower. Panasonic is losing more than 2 percent, Canon is down almost 1 percent and Sony is declining almost 2 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 2 percent.

Among the other major losers, Furukawa Electric and Seven & I Holdings are tumbling almost 9 percent each, while Fujikura is plunging almost 8 percent. Socionext is losing more than 5 percent, while Disco and Renesas Electronics are down more than 4 percent each. Ebara, Ryohin Keikaku and Isetan Mitsukoshi are declining more than 3 percent each, while Inpex, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Hino Motors and Sumco are slipping almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, IHI is gaining more than 4 percent and Takeda Pharmaceutical is adding almost 3 percent.

In economic news, Japan's unemployment rate was at 2.5 percent in January 2025, slightly above market estimates and December's readings of 2.4 percent.

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

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day on Monday after showing a lack of direction early in the session. The major averages all showed significant moves to the downside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunging to a four-month closing low.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the close but remained firmly negative. The Nasdaq dove 497.09 points or 2.6 percent to 18,350.19, the S&P 500 tumbled 104.78 points or 1.8 percent to 5,849.72 and the Dow slumped 649.67 points or 1.5 percent to 43,191.24.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also showed strong moves to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index surged by 2.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply to a near three-month low on Monday, weighed down by concerns about possible excess supply in the market after reports said OPEC and allies would go ahead with a plan of oil output increase in April. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March settled lower by $1.39 or nearly 2 percent, at $68.37 a barrel.