Japanese Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese market is trading significantly lower on Friday, reversing some of the gains in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 68,400 level, with weakness in index heavyweights and automaker stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 557.65 points or 0.81 percent to 68,399.07, after hitting a low of 68,166.30 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is declining more than 5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is down almost 2 percent and Honda is losing more than 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is advancing almost 4 percent, while Screen Holdings is down more than 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is losing almost 4 percent.

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

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic are edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Sony is declining almost 1 percent. Canon is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among other major gainers, Mitsui Kinzoku and Furukawa Electric are jumping almost 6 percent each, while BayCurrent is surging almost 5 percent, Fujikura is advancing more than 4 percent and Sumitomo Electric Industries is gaining almost 4 percent. Lasertec, Resonac Holdings and Inpex are adding almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Taiyo Yuden is declining more than 3 percent and Terumo is slipping almost 4 percent, while M3 and Nissan Motor are losing more than 3 percent each. Renesas Electronics, Orix, Konica Minolta and Toppan Holdings are down almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, the unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.5 percent in August, the MIAC said on Friday. That was above expectations for 2.4 percent, which would have been unchanged from the July reading. The jobs-to-applicant ratio was 1.18 - unchanged and matching forecasts.

The MIAC also said overall consumer prices in Japan were up 2.7 percent on year in September. That was above expectations for an increase of 2.5 percent and was up from 1.9 percent in August. Core CPI, which excludes the volatile costs of food, also climbed an annual 2.7 percent. That exceeded forecasts for a gain of 2.4 percent and was up from 1.8 percent in the previous month.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 158 yen-range on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Thursday following the mixed performance seen during Wednesday's session. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing modestly higher.

The S&P 500 rose 14.91 points or 0.2 percent to 7,666.45, while the Dow inched up 20.51 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 50,926.56 and the Nasdaq crept up 10.53 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 26,871.45.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all showed notable moves to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index slumped by 1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index tumbled by 1.6 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices showed another substantial move to the upside on Thursday following reports that Chinese refiners have suspended oil product exports for October. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up $2.53 or 2.8 percent to $92.95 a barrel.