Japanese Market Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese market is sharply lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling well below the 48,700 level, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 629.80 points or 1.28 percent to 48,677.99, after hitting a low of 48,399.05 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly lower on Wednesday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 3 percent, Screen Holdings is edging down 0.3 percent and Tokyo Electron is tumbling almost 4 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.5 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining almost 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is down more than 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.4 percent, while Panasonic is declining 1.5 percent, Sony is edging down 0.4 percent and Canon is slipping more than 1 percent.

Among other major losers, Disco is losing almost 5 percent, while Omron, Sumco, Lasertec and Daikin Industries are down almost 4 percent each. Renesas Electronics is slipping more than 3 percent, while Yaskawa Electric, Nidec and Taiyo Yuden are declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Sumitomo Heavy Industries is jumping almost 7 percent and Kawasaki Heavy Industries is adding more than 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 152 yen-range on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower during trading on Wednesday following the lackluster performance seen during Tuesday's session. The major averages all moved to the downside on the day, with the Dow pulling back off yesterday's record closing high.

The major averages climbed well off their worst levels in late-day trading but remained firmly negative. The Nasdaq slumped 213.67 points or 0.9 percent to 22,740.40, the Dow slid 334.33 points or 0.7 percent to 46,590.41 and the S&P 500 fell 35.95 points or 0.5 percent to 6,699.40.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also ended the day mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced 0.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index fell 0.6 percent and the German DAX Index declined by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices surged on Wednesday on news that the proposed U.S.-Russia summit to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war has been shelved. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $1.28 or 2.24 percent at $58.52 per barrel.