Japanese Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is significantly lower on Wednesday, snapping the four-session winning streak, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 31,100 level and off the recent 33-year highs, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with traders continuing to booking profits after the recent surge in the markets.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 254.35 or 0.81 percent at 31,073.81, after hitting a low of 30,928.88 earlier. Japanese stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.4 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is declining more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing 1.5 percent and Toyota is down more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is gaining more than 1 percent, while Advantest is losing more than 1 percent and Tokyo Electron are edging down 0.2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.3 percent, while Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are gaining almost 1 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Sony is losing almost 1 percent, while Canon and Panasonic are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each. Mitsubishi Electric is flat.

Among other major losers, Resonac Holdings and Yamaha are losing more than 3 percent each, while Tokuyama, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Sharp and Marubeni are all declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Hino Motors is soaring more than 12 percent.

In economic news, the total value of retail sales in Japan was up 5.0 percent on year in April, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry or METI said on Wednesday - coming in at 13,207 billion yen. That missed expectations for an increase of 5.8 percent following the 6.9 percent gain in March.

The METI also said Industrial production in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent on month in April, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Wednesday. That missed expectations for an increase of 0.5 percent following the 1.1 percent gain in March. On a yearly basis, industrial output fell 0.3 percent after slipping 0.6 percent in the previous month.

Upon the release of the data, the METI maintained its assessment of industrial production, saying that it shows signs of increase at a moderate pace. According to the METI's forecast of industrial production, output is expected to rise 1.9 percent on month in May and 1.2 percent in June.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 139 yen-range on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks ended mixed on Tuesday as the mood turned cautious around mid-afternoon with investors awaiting the passage of the debt ceiling deal. Stocks, particularly from the technology section, started off on a firm note, although the broad market, however, was somewhat sluggish.

The major averages ended mixed. The Dow ended with a modest loss of 50.56 points or 0.15 percent at 33,042.78 and the S&P 500 settled at 4,205.52, little changed from the previous close, while the Nasdaq ended up 41.74 points or 0.32 percent at 13,017.43.

The major European markets ended notably lower as investors stayed cautious, awaiting the passage of the U.S. debt ceiling deal. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 1.38 percent, Germany's DAX ended lower by 0.27 percent, and France's CAC 40 fell 1.29 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday, weighed down by doubts about China's economic recovery and uncertainty over whether the Congress will pass the debt deal this week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down $3.21 or 4.4 percent at $69.46 a barrel.