Japanese Market Sharply Lower, Down 3%

(RTTNews) - Giving up all the gains in the previous three sessions, the Japanese market is sharply lower on Thursday, despite the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight. The Nikkei 225 is plunging 3 percent to below the 37,900 level, with weakness across all sectors after the Bank of Japan lifted short-term policy rates and announced plans to reduce monthly bond buying in a hawkish pivot.

The country's central bank hiked its key interest rate to 0.25 percent in a surprise move and laid out a detailed plan to pare monthly bond buying in stages.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 1,204.19 points or 3.08 percent to 37,897.63, after hitting a low of 37,737.88 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is lunging more than 6 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 4 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is plunging almost 7 percent and Honda is declining almost 5 percent.

In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is losing almost 2 percent and Screen Holdings slipping more than 8 percent, while Advantest is skyrocketing more than 14 percent after raising its full-year profit outlook on strong chip tester demand.

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

Among the major exporters, Canon is plunging more than 7 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is plummeting almost 12 percent, Sony is declining almost 4 percent and Panasonic is sliding more than 8 percent.

Among other major losers, Konica Minolta is plummeting almost 15 percent, while Yamaha and Mitsubishi Electric are plunging more than 12 percent. Isetan Mitsukoshi is sliding almost 12 percent, while Sumitomo Realty & Development, Toyota Tsusho and Takashimaya are sliding more than 10 percent each. J. Front Retailing, Mitsubishi Estate, Mitsui Fudosan and Tokyu Fudosan are slipping more than 9 percent each. Alps Alpine, Denso and Subaru are declining almost 9 percent each.

Conversely, Sumitomo Pharma is skyrocketing more than 11 percent, Toto is surging more than 6 percent, Socionext is gaining almost 6 percent and Hitachi is adding more than 4 percent, while Resona Holdings and Nisshin Seifun Group are advancing more than 3 percent each. CyberAgent is up almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 149 yen-range on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks continued to turn in a strong performance throughout the trading day on Wednesday after moving sharply higher early in the session. The major averages all moved to the upside after ending Tuesday's trading mixed, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq posting a particularly strong gain.

The Nasdaq soared 451.98 points or 2.6 percent to 17,599.40, more than offsetting the 1.3 percent slump seen during yesterday's session. The S&P 500 also jumped 85.86 points or 1.6 percent to 5,522.30, while the Dow rose 99.46 points or 0.2 percent to 40,842.79.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.8 percent and the German DAX Index climbed by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Wednesday amid concerns about possible supply disruptions due to rising tensions in the Middle East, and on data showing a larger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended up $3.18 or 4.3 percent at $77.91 a barrel.