Japanese Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - Giving up some of the gains in the previous two sessions, the Japanese stock market is significantly lower on Tuesday, with the Nikkei 225 falling to near the 38,600 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness across most sectors led by Index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 309.11 points or 0.79 percent at 38,613.92, after hitting a low of 38,591.79 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is declining almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 2 percent and Toyota is edging down 0.5 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 1 percent, Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.4 percent and Screen Holdings is declining more than 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.5 percent, while Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.5 percent. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is flat.

The major exporters are mixed. Panasonic is losing more than 1 percent and Canon is edging down 0.4 percent, while Sony is gaining more than 2 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among the other major losers, Sharp is losing almost 4 percent, while OKUMA, Mitsui & Co., Credit Saison and Inpex are declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Fujikura Electric and Fujitsu are gaining more than 4 percent each, while Yamaha is adding more than 3 percent. Nissan Chemical and J. Front Retailing are advancing almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 156 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks recovered in afternoon trades and ended the day's session on a mixed note after a positive start and a subsequent retreat that resulted in a fairly long spell in negative territory on Monday.

The Nasdaq outperformed, settling at 16,828.67 with a gain of 93.65 points or 0.56 percent. The S&P 500 edged up 5.89 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 5,283.40, while the Dow ended down 115.29 points or 0.3 percent at 38,571.03.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. Germany's DAX gained 0.6 percent, and France's CAC 40 edged up 0.06 percent. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down by 0.15 percent.

Crude oil prices fell to a four-month low on Monday after OPEC said it will begin phasing out voluntary production cuts over the next year. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down by $2.77 or about 3.6 percent at $74.22 a barrel.