Japanese Market Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese market is trading sharply lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is well below the 64,400 level, with weakness in index heavyweights and technology stocks partially offset by gains in financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 782.01 points or 1.20 percent to 64,360.77, after hitting a low of 64,276.62 earlier. Japanese stocks ended modestly lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is declining almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging up 0.4 percent, while Honda is edging down 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 1 percent, Screen Holdings is down almost 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is declining almost 3 percent.

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

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is losing almost 2 percent and Sony is edging down 0.3 percent, while Canon is edging up 0.2 percent and Panasonic is advancing more than 3 percent.

Among other major losers, Mitsui Kinzoku is plunging more than 7 percent, Fujikura is tumbling more than 6 percent and Furukawa Electric is sliding almost 6 percent, while Shimizu and Taisei are slipping more than 5 percent each. Nintendo is declining almost 5 percent, while Ibiden, Sumitomo Electric Industries and Japan Steel Works are losing more than 4 percent each. Fuji Electric, Kajima, IHI and Kawasaki Heavy Industries are down almost 4 percent each, while Sumco and NGK are losing more than 3 percent.

Conversely, Resona Holdings and Alps Alpine are losing almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 153 yen-range on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw continued weakness throughout the trading day on Wednesday after coming under pressure early in the session. The major averages closed lower for the third consecutive session, with the Dow falling to its lowest closing level in over a month.

The major averages ended the day off their lows of the session but still in negative territory. The Dow slid 405.41 points or 0.8 percent to 52,380.66, the Nasdaq declined 168.07 points or 0.6 percent to 26,253.34 and the S&P 500 fell 37.16 points or 0.5 percent to 7,636.36.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. The French CAC 40 Index plunged by 1.9 percent, the German DAX Index tumbled by 1.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1.3 percent.

Crude oil prices surged on Wednesday as the U.S. and Iran continued to trade attacks, dashing hopes for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and renewing inflation concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $2.98 or 3.20 percent at $96.01 per barrel.