Japanese Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - Extending the losses in the previous two sessions, the Japanese stock market is significantly lower on Thursday, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 32,700 level, mirroring the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, dragged by exporters and technology stocks, partially offset by gains in financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 363.93 points or 1.10 percent to 32,659.85, after hitting a low of 32,654.19 earlier. Japanese stocks closed significantly lower on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is flat and Honda is losing almost 1 percent.

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

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining almost 3 percent, while Mizuho Financial is and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are adding almost 2 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Panasonic is losing almost 3 percent, Sony is declining almost 2 percent, Canon is edging down 0.3 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is slipping more than 1 percent.

Among other major losers, Keyence is plunging more than 5 percent and Keisei Electric Railway is losing more than 4 percent, while Taiyo Yuden, Hoya, Yaskawa Electric and Murata Manufacturing are declining almost 4 percent each. SMC, CyberAgent, Konami Group, Eisai, Nidec and Renesas Electronics are all down more than 3 percent each, while Panasonic, Recruit Holdings and Olympus are slipping almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Tokyo Electric Power is gaining 4.5 percent, while Chubu Electric Power, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust and Mitsui Chemicals are adding almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 148 yen-range on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading session on Wednesday, with renewed concerns about the outlook for interest rates weighing on the markets. The major averages spent much of the session on opposite sides of the unchanged line but all came under pressure late in the trading day

The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way lower, tumbling 209.06 points or 1.5 percent to 13,469.13, the S&P 500 also slumped 41.75 points or 0.9 percent to a nearly one-month closing low of 4,402.20 and the Dow posted a more modest loss, slipping 76.85 points or 0.2 percent to 34,440.88.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index climbed by 0.8 and the French CAC 40 Index increased by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Wednesday despite data showing a drop in crude inventories in the U.S. in the week ended September 15. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October settled lower by $0.92 at $90.28 a barrel on the expiration day. WTI Crude futures for November settled at $89.66 a barrel, down $0.82 from the previous close.