Japanese Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is notably lower on Friday, snapping a five-session winning streak, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight. The benchmark Nikkei 225 is falling below the 38,800 level, with weakness in index heavyweights and technology stocks partially offset by gains in financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 157.17 points or 0.40 percent to 38,763.09, after hitting a low of 38,539.56 earlier. Japanese stocks closed sharply higher on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is also declining almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.1 percent, while Toyota is gaining more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is edging down 0.1 percent and Tokyo Electron is declining more than 2 percent, while Screen Holdings is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining more than 3 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is adding more than 2 percent and Mizuho Financial is up almost 1 percent.

Among major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic are edging up 0.5 percent each, while Canon and Sony are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each.

Among other major gainers, Sumitomo Pharma and CyberAgent are losing more than 4 percent each, while Dentsu Group and Terumo are declining more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, Japan Steel Works is gaining more than 5 percent and Renesas Electronics is adding almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 155 yen-range on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved to the upside early in the session on Thursday but fluctuated over the course of the trading day before eventually closing modestly lower. The major averages partly offset the strong upward move seen over the two previous sessions.

While the Dow climbed above 40,000 for the first time in morning trading, the blue chip index ended the day down 38.62 points or 0.1 percent to 39,869.38. The S&P 500 dipped 11.05 points or 0.2 percent to 5,297.10 and the Nasdaq fell 44.07 points or 0.3 percent to 16,698.32.

The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index slid by 0.6 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices advanced on Thursday, continuing to benefit from recent data showing a larger than expected decline in crude inventories in the U.S. last week. Hopes of an interest rate cut in September contributed as well to the rise in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for June ended higher by $0.60 at $79.23 a barrel.