Japanese Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is significantly lower on Friday after opening in the green, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 falling below the 33,000 mark, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with weakness across most sectors partially offset by gains in technology stocks. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 338.05 points or 1.02 percent to 32,926.83, after hitting a low of 32,820.62 earlier. Japanese stocks closed significantly lower on Thursday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is adding more than 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing more than 1 percent, while Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are edging down 0.2 percent each.

Among major exporters, Canon, Sony and Mitsubishi Electric are losing more than 1 percent each, while Panasonic is edging down 0.4 percent.

Among other major losers, BANDAI NAMCO Holdings is losing more than 3 percent, while Mitsui & Co., Fujikura and Mitsubishi Corp. are down almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Tokyo Electric Power is gaining more than 5 percent and Takara Holdings is adding almost 3 percent.

In economic news, overall consumer prices in Japan were up 3.2 percent on year in May, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday. That was well shy of estimates for 4.1 percent and down from 3.5 percent in April. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.1 percent - slowing from 0.6 percent a month earlier.

Core CPI, which excludes the volatile prices of food, also rose an annual 3.2 percent - compared to expectations for an increase of 3.1 percent and down from 3.4 percent in the previous month.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 142 yen-range on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a lackluster performance for much of the trading session on Thursday but managed to end the day mostly higher. Technology stocks helped lead the advance, resulting in a surge by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

The Nasdaq saw further upside going into the close, jumping 128.41 points or 1.0 percent to 13,630.61. The S&P 500 also climbed 16.20 points or 0.4 percent to 4,381.89, while the narrower Dow edged down 4.81 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 33,946.71.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index edged down by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both fell by 0.8 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Thursday as interest rate hikes and inflation concerns raised concerns about the outlook for fuel demand, while a stronger greenback also weighed. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by $3.02 or 4.1 percent at $69.51 a barrel.