Japanese Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is slightly lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 63,250 level, with weakness in automakers and financial stocks partially offset by gains in exporter stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 48.38 points or 0.08 percent at 63,241.73, after hitting a low of 62,712.91 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is declining almost 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is advancing more than 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.3 percent and Toyota is losing almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is jumping more than 6 percent, while Screen Holdings is plunging more than 17 percent following downbeat financial results for the second quarter and full-year guidance.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is declining almost 2 percent, while Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are losing more than 1 percent each.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Mitsubishi Electric is advancing almost 4 percent, Panasonic is surging more than 5 percent and Sony is edging up 0.5 percent, while Canon is losing almost 1 percent.

Among the other major losers, Kioxia Holdings is plunging more than 13 percent, Alps Alpine is tumbling more than 10 percent, Ibiden is sliding more than 6 percent and Sumitomo Electric Industries is slipping more than 5 percent, while NTN, Taiyo Yuden and TDK are declining almost 5 percent each. Hoya is losing more than 4 percent and Rakuten Group is down almost 4 percent, while Sumco and Seiko Epson are declining more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, NGK and Sapporo Holdings are soaring more than 7 percent each, while Sumitomo Pharma is jumping more than 6 percent and Nippon Electric Glass is surging almost 5 percent, while East Japan Railway, Daiichi Sankyo and Mitsubishi Electric are gaining almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to expand in October, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Monday with a Performance of Manufacturing Index score of 53.3. That was down from 54.1 in September although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 157 yen-range on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks saw even further downside over the course of the trading day on Friday after moving sharply lower early in the session. The major averages all moved notably lower, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq once again posting a particularly steep loss.

The major regained some ground going into the end of the day but remained sharply lower. The Nasdaq plunged 747.73 points or 2.9 percent to 25,437.00, the S&P 500 tumbled 140.32 points or 1.8 percent to 7,580.07 and the Dow slumped 572.25 points or 1.1 percent to 51,770.31.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index crept up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index closed just below the unchanged line and the German DAX Index slid by 0.9 percent.

Crude oil prices spiked on Friday on increased supply disruption concerns, with media reports suggesting renewed U.S. military action against Iran this week. West Texas Intermediate crude Oil for December delivery was up $2.39 or 2.34 percent at $104.39 per barrel.