Japanese Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is slightly lower in choppy trading on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 below 27,700 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, as traders cautiously await the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision and accompanying statement later today.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 4.56 points or 0.02 percent at 27,650.65, after hitting a low of 27,525.09 earlier. Japanese stocks closed modestly lower on Tuesday.

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

In the tech space, Screen Holdings and Advantest are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is adding 2.5 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are flat, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging down 0.1 percent. Among the major exporters, Sony and Mitsubishi Electric are losing almost 1 percent each, while Panasonic is declining more than 1 percent and Canon is down more than 2 percent.

Among the other major losers, Nitto Denko is losing almost 3 percent, while Yokohama Rubber, Yamaha, Isuzu Motors, Ricoh and Mitsubishi Motors are all down more than 2 percent each.

Conversely, Astellas Pharma, Nisshin Seifun Group and Central Japan Railway are losing more than 2 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the 137 yen-range on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. The major averages all showed notable moves to the downside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a particularly steep drop.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the close but remained firmly negative following the mixed performance seen during Monday's session. While the Nasdaq tumbled 220.09 points or 1.9 percent to 11,562.57, the S&P 500 slumped 45.79 points or 1.2 percent to 3,921.05 and the Dow slid 228.50 points or 0.7 percent to 31,761.54.

The major European markets also moved mostly lower on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed nearly unchanged, the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index slumped by 0.9 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday, weighed by an announcement from the Biden administration about more sales from the national oil reserve to fight inflation at the pump. The dollar's rebound from recent losses also contributed the drop in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended lower by $1.72 or 1.8 percent at $94.98 a barrel.