Japanese Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading slightly lower on Tuesday, extending the losses in the previous three sessions, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling to near the 39,400 level, with a mixed performance across most sectors. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 53.40 points or 0.14 percent at 39,406.22, after hitting a low of 39,567.77 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is flat and Toyota is edging up 0.1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 1 percent and Screen Holdings is edging down 0.5 percent, while Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.2 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining 1.5 percent, while Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are advancing almost 2 percent each.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Canon is edging down 0.3 percent, while Panasonicand Sony are losing almost 1 percent each. Mitsubishi Electric is gaining more than 1 percent.

Among the other major losers, Renesas Electronics and Ryohin Keikaku are losing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Furukawa Electric is gaining almost 4 percent and T&D Holdings is adding almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 147 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved lower during trading on Monday and gradually ticked up into positive territory, finishing with mild gains.

The major averages ended the day in positive territory. The Dow added 88.14 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 44,459.65, while the Nasdaq gained 54.80 points or 0.27 percent to close at 20,640.33 and the S&P 500 rose 8.81 points or 0.14 percent to end at 6,268.56.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index gained by 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index slipped by 0.9 percent.

Crude oil prices slumped on Monday on continuing concerns over OPEC's decision to increase output again next month. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery dropped $1.24 or 1.85 percent to $65.79 per barrel.