Japanese Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading significantly lower on Wednesday, reversing some of the strong gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 54,100 level, with weakness in index heavyweights and technology stocks partially offset by gains in exporter and automaker stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 650.89 or 1.19 percent at 54,069.77, after hitting a low of 53,965.51 earlier. Japanese stocks ended sharply higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 1 percent and Toyota is adding more than 2 percent.

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

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.1 percent, while Mizuho Financial is edging up 0.1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is surging almost 6 percent, Canon is edging up 0.5 percent and Panasonic is gaining more than 1 percent, while Sony is slipping more than 4 percent.

Among other major losers, Ibiden is plummeting almost 17 percent and Nintendo is plunging almost 11 percent, while Yokogawa Electric and Recruit Holdings are tumbling more than 8 percent each. Nomura Research Institute and NEC are slipping more than 7 percent each, while Lasertec is declining almost 7 percent. Konami Group and SHIFT are sliding more than 6 percent each, while Trend Micro and Fujitsu are down almost 6 percent each. CyberAgent is losing more than 5 percent, while Dentsu Group is down almost 5 percent and BayCurrent is declining more than 4 percent.

Conversely, NSK and Sumitomo Chemical are soaring almost 7 percent each, while Sumitomo Metal Mining is surging almost 6 percent. Hino Motors is jumping more than 5 percent, while Nitori Holdings and Mitsubishi Materials are gaining more than 4 percent each. West Japan Railway and Seiko Epson are advancing almost 4 percent each, while Mitsui Kinzoku, Mitsui Chemicals, Idemitsu Kosan, Toray Industries and Fujikura are adding more than 3 percent each. ENEOS Holdings is up almost 3 percent.

In economic news, the services sector in Japan continued to expand in January, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Wednesday with a services PMI score of 53.7. That's up from 51.6 in December and beat last month's flash estimate of 53.4. It also moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the composite index jumped to 53.1 - up from 51.1 in December and from 52.8 in the estimate.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 155 yen-range on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks moved notably lower during trading on Tuesday, more than offsetting the strength seen in the previous session. The major averages all moved to the downside on the day, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a particularly steep drop.

The major averages climbed well off their worst levels in the latter part of the session but remained in negative territory. The Nasdaq slumped 336.92 points or 1.4 percent to 23,255.19, the S&P 500 slid 58.63 points or 0.8 percent to 6,917.81 and the Dow fell 166.67 points or 0.3 percent to 49,240.99.

The major European markets have also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dipped by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index closed just below the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices surged on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar index moved lower, while news of the U.S.-India trade agreement has led to anticipation of a spur in energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was up $1.10 or 1.77 percent at $63.24 per barrel.