Japanese Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - Extending the losses the previous session, the Japanese stock market is slightly lower on Tuesday, with the Nikkei 225 staying well below the 32,800 level, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders cautiously await details of the Bank of Japan's final monetary policy meeting of the year.

There is speculation the BoJ could change its forward guidance on interest rates or provide signals on policy change. Most economists expect the BOJ to ditch negative interest rates by the end of next year.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 21.78 points or 0.07 percent at 32,737.20, after hitting a low of 32,654.43 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.5 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.4 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.4 percent and Toyota is losing almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is edging up 0.4 percent, Tokyo Electron is gaining more than 1 percent and Screen Holdings is advancing almost 3 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.2 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing almost 1 percent and Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.3 percent.

The major exporters are mostly lower. Panasonic is losing almost 2 percent, while Sony and Mitsubishi Electric is declining more than 1 percent each. Canon is gaining more than 1 percent.

Among the other major losers, Nippon Steel is losing 4.5 percent and Central Japan Railway is declining more than 3 percent.

Conversely, Lasertec and NH Foods are gaining almost 3 percent each.

In other news, shares in Nippon Steel are gaining almost 4 percent after news that it would acquire US Steel for $14.9 billion.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 142 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading session on Monday, adding to the strong gains last week. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 climbed firmly into positive territory, although the narrower Dow ended the day little changed.

While the Dow inched up 0.86 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 37,306.02, the Nasdaq rose 21.37 points or 0.5 percent to 4,740.56 and the S&P 500 climbed 90.89 points or 0.6 percent to 14,904.81.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index declined by 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index slid by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Monday on rising tensions in the Middle Ease due to recent attacks on ships crossing the Red Sea, which have raised supply concerns. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $1.04 or 1.44 percent at $72.47 a barrel.