Japanese Market Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is sharply lower on Thursday, giving up the gains in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 falling nearly to the 26,900 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with exporters and technology stocks leading the declines. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 352.17 points or 1.29 percent to 26,905.21, after hitting a low of 26,889.15 earlier. Japanese stocks closed modestly higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is declining more than 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 1 percent and Toyota is edging down 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings and Advantest are losing more than 2 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is declining more than 3 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging up 0.5 percent each, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are down more than 1 percent each while Canon is losing almost 1 percent and Panasonic is declining almost 2 percent.

Among the other major losers, Fujikura is losing almost 5 percent, while Konami Group, Hoya and Toto are down more than 3 percent each. M3, Fuji Electric and Rakuten Group are declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Nisshin Seifun is gaining more than 3 percent.

In economic news, Japan posted a merchandise trade deficit of 2.094 trillion yen in September, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday. That exceeded expectations for a shortfall of 2.167 trillion yen following the downwardly revised 2.820 trillion yen deficit in August (originally -2.817 trillion yen).

Exports climbed 28,9 percent to 8.818 trillion yen, topping forecasts for an increase of 27.1 percent following the downwardly revised 22.0 percent gain in the previous month (originally 22.1 percent). Imports surged an annual 45.9 percent to 10.912 trillion yen versus expectations for an increase of 45.0 percent and slowing from 49.9 percent a month earlier.

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

On Wall Street, stocks gave back ground over the course of the trading session on Wednesday after a positive start to the week. The major averages fluctuated early in the session but slid more firmly into negative territory as the day progressed.

The major averages climbed well off their worst levels late in the session but remained in the red. The Dow dipped 99.99 points or 0.3 percent to 30,423.81, the Nasdaq slid 91.89 points or 0.9 percent to 10,680.51 and the S&P 500 fell 24.82 points or 0.7 percent to 3,695.16.

The major European markets also showed a lack of direction over the course of the session before closing modestly lower. While the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.4 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both edged down by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Wednesday as data showed declines in U.S. crude and gasoline stockpiles last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended higher by $2.73 or 3.3 percent at $85.55 a barrel.