Japanese Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is significantly lower in choppy trading on Monday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 25,900 level, despite the broadly positive cues from global markets on Friday, amid speculation that the Bank of Japan will shift from its ultra-easy policy at its monthly monetary policy meeting on Wednesday.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 262.44 or 1.00 percent at 25,857.08, after hitting a low of 25,748.10 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is declining almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 2 percent and Toyota is edging down 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is losing almost 2 percent, Advantest is edging down 0.4 percent and Tokyo Electron are down 1.5 percent. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing almost 2 percent, Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.5 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining more than 2 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Panasonic and Mitsubishi Electric are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Sony is edging up 0.3 percent. Canon is losing almost 3 percent.

Among the other major losers, Denka is plummeting almost 15 percent, while Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Fujikura, Fukuoka Financial, Hino Motors and Seiko Epson are losing more than 3 percent each. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Yamaha, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust, Credit Saison, Mitsui Chemicals, NEXON and TDK are down almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, CyberAgent is gaining almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 127 yen-range on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a significant turnaround over the course of the trading session on Friday, recovering from initial weakness to close mostly higher. The major averages climbed well off their early lows to end the day firmly positive.

The major averages showed a notable move to the upside in the final hour of trading. The Dow rose 112.64 points or 0.3 percent to 34,302.61, the Nasdaq advanced 78.05 points or 0.7 percent to 11,079.16 and the S&P 500 climbed 15.92 points or 0.4 percent to 3,999.09.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index inched up by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.6 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Friday on optimism for less aggressive rate hikes in the United States after inflation slowed in December. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for February ended higher by $1.47 or 1.9 percent at $79.86 a barrel.