Japanese Market Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese market is trading sharply lower on Friday, reversing the gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is tumbling 2.2 percent to well below the 65,000 mark, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 1,464.15 points or 2.20 percent to 64,958.45, after hitting a low of 64,489.98 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is tumbling more than 6 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is declining almost 2 percent and Honda is losing more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is tumbling almost 7 percent, Screen Holdings is slipping more than 3 percent and Tokyo Electron is sliding almost 5 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.4 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are losing almost 1 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Panasonic is losing almost 3 percent and Canon is down almost 1 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are slipping almost 2 percent each. Among other major losers, Disco is plunging more than 12 percent and Taiyo Yuden is tumbling more than 6 percent, while Mitsui Kinzoku, Sumitomo Metal Mining, Mitsubishi Motors and Kioxia Holdings are declining almost 5 percent each. Furukawa Electric, Sumco and Resonac Holdings are sliding more than 4 percent each, while Shin-Etsu Chemical is declining almost 4 percent.

Conversely, BayCurrent is gaining almost 3 percent.

In economic news, Japan's annual inflation rate accelerated to 1.7 percent in June 2026 from 1.5 percent in the prior month, marking the highest reading since December. Core inflation, which excludes fresh food, rose to 1.6 percent from 1.4 percent, matching market consensus and reaching its highest since March. However, core inflation remained below the Bank of Japan's 2 percent target for a fifth straight month.

Japan's food prices increased 3.2 percent on year in June 2026, slowing from 3.5 percent in May and marking the softest rise since July 2024.

The S&P Global Japan Manufacturing PMI inched down to 54.7 in July 2026 from 54.8 in the previous month, but surpassed market expectations of 54.5, preliminary estimates showed. It was the seventh straight month of expansion. The Services PMI Business Activity Index eased to 51.9 in July 2026 from a final 52.2 in the previous month, flash estimates showed.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 163 yen-range on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a more substantial move to the downside during trading on Thursday after ending Wednesday's choppy session modestly lower. The major averages all moved notably lower, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a particularly steep decline.

The major averages ended the day off their lows of the session but still firmly negative. The Nasdaq plunged 553.21 points or 2.2 percent to 25,137.69, the S&P 500 tumbled 90.66 points or 1.2 percent to 7,408.30 and the Dow slumped 506.93 points or 1 percent to 51,711.65.

The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.7 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both tumbled by 1.6 percent.

Crude oil prices surged again on Thursday amid concerns of a wider conflict in the Middle East set off by new attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen on two Saudi Arabian tankers in the Red Sea. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $5.76 or 6.63 percent at $92.59 per barrel.