Japanese Market Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading sharply lower on Monday, reversing the gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 50,150 level, with weakness in exporters and technology stocks partially offset by gaining in automakers and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 687.02 points or 1.35 percent at 50,149.53, after hitting a low of 50,123.08 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is tumbling more than 6 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.4 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.2 percent and Toyota is also edging up 0.3 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is tumbling almost 6 percent, Screen Holdings is losing more than 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.4 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining more than 1 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding almost 1 percent and Mizuho Financial is advancing almost 2 percent.

The major exporters are mostly lower. Mitsubishi Electric is losing almost 1 percent, Panasonic is declining 1.5 percent and Sony is edging down 0.4 percent, while Canon is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among the other major losers, Japan Steel Works is tumbling almost 6 percent, while Ibiden and Socionext are declining more than 4 percent each. Nippon Steel is down almost 4 percent, while Fujikura, TDK, Sumitomo Metal Mining and Murata Manufacturing are losing more than 3 percent each. SMC, Sumco, Furukawa Electric, Hitachi and Ebara are slipping almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Aeon is surging almost 6 percent and Sumitomo Pharma is advancing almost 4 percent, while East Japan Railway, Japan Exchange Group, Daiichi Sankyo, Astellas Pharma and Mercari are gaining more than 3 percent each. Nissan Motor is adding almost 3 percent.

In economic news, large manufacturing in Japan accelerated slightly in the fourth quarter of 2025, the Bank of Japan's quarterly Tankan Survey of business sentiment showed on Wednesday with a diffusion index score of +15. That was in line with forecasts and was up from +14 in the previous three months. The outlook also came in at +15, matching forecasts and up from +12 in the previous quarter.

The large non-manufacturers index came in at +34, beating forecasts for +33 and unchanged from Q2. The outlook was steady at +28. The small manufacturing index jumped to +6 from +1, while the outlook rose to +2 from -1.

The small non-manufacturing index ticked up to +15 from +14, while the outlook was steady at +10. Large industry capex is seen higher by 12.6 percent, up from 12.5 percent in Q3. Small industry capex was up 0.1 percent after sinking 2.3 percent in the three months prior.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 155 yen-range on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a significant move to the downside during trading on Friday following the mixed performance seen during Thursday's session. The major averages all moved lower, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a particularly steep drop.

The major averages ended the day off their worst levels of the session but still in negative territory. The Nasdaq plunged 398.69 points or 1.7 percent to 23,195.17 and the S&P 500 tumbled 73.59 points or 1.1 percent to 6,827.41.

The major European markets also moved to the downside over the course of the session. While the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.5 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices weakened on Friday as traders kept an eye on the latest developments in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and escalating tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery fell $0.20 or 0.4 percent at $57.40 per barrel.