Japanese Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - Snapping a four-session winning streak, the Japanese stock market is significantly lower on Friday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark Nikkei 225 is falling to stay a tad above the 39,100 level, with gains across most sectors led by technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 290.66 points or 0.74 percent to 39,104.74, after hitting a low of 39,083.17 earlier. Japanese stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.3 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent and Toyota is edging up 0.1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are losing more than 2 percent each, while Screen Holdings is declining almost 4 percent.

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

Among major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.5 percent and Sony is losing almost 2 percent each, while Canon and Panasonic are edging up 0.2 to 0.4 percent each.

Among other major losers, Japan Steel Works is declining almost 4 percent and Disco is down more than 3 percent, while Otsuka Holdings and Sumitomo Electric Industries are losing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Omron is gaining more than 3 percent, while Nissan Motor and Mitsubishi Motors are adding almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, the average of household spending in Japan was down 1.3 percent on year in October, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday - coming in at 305,819 yen. That beat forecasts for an annual decline of 2.6 percent following the 1.1 percent drop in September.

On a monthly basis, household spending climbed 2.9 percent - beating forecasts for a gain of 0.4 percent after slipping 1.3 percent in the previous month. The average of monthly income per household stood at 580,675 yen, up 1.1 percent on year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 150 yen-range on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Thursday after climbing to new record highs in the previous session. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

The major averages eventually ended the day in negative territory. The Dow slid 248.33 points or 0.6 percent to 44,765.71, while the Nasdaq dipped 34.86 points or 0.2 percent to 19,700.26 and the S&P 500 edged down 11.38 points or 0.2 percent to 6,075.11.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. The German DAX Index advanced by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index crept up by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices dipped on Thursday, weighed by weak demand from China and rising production in the United States - although the downside was limited by OPEC's decision to delay a production increase. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January fell $0.24 or 0.4 percent at $68.30 a barrel.