Japanese Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - Extending the losses in the previous session, the Japanese stock market is modestly lower on Tuesday, with the Nikkei 225 falling well below the 38,100 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with weakness in index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 80.39 points or 0.21 percent at 38,029.83, after hitting a low of 37,911.32 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is also down almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is adding more than 1 percent and Toyota is also gaining almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are losing more than 2 percent each, while Screen Holdings is declining more than 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining almost 1 percent and Mizuho Financial is edging up 0.2 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.2 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Panasonic and Canon are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Sony is gaining almost 2 percent. Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among the other major losers, Lasertec is losing more than 4 percent and Disco is declining more than 3 percent, while Hitachi and Sumitomo Pharma are down almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, JTEKT is gaining more than 4 percent and Yokogawa Electric is adding almost 4 percent, while Nissui and Marui Group are up more than 3 percent each. Aozora Bank, Credit Saison, Seven & I Holdings, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Dai-ichi Life are advancing almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, producer prices in Japan were up 2.8 percent on year in July, the Bank of Japan said on Tuesday. That was beneath expectations for an increase of 2.9 percent and down from the upwardly revised 3.1 percent gain in June (originally 3.0 percent). On a monthly basis, producer prices rose 0.3 percent - up from 0.1 percent in the previous month. Excluding international transportation, producer prices were up 0.3 percent on month and 2.7 percent on year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 144 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a mixed performance during trading on Monday, with the Dow reaching a new record closing high, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq saw a notable pullback after posting a strong gain last week.

The Dow pulled back well off its best levels of the session and briefly dipped into negative territory but ended the day up 65.44 points or 0.2 percent at 41,240.52. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq slid 152.03 points or 0.9 percent to 17,725.77 and the S&P 500 fell 17.77 points or 0.3 percent at 5,616.84.

The major European markets also finished the day narrowly mixed, with the U.K. markets closed for a holiday. While the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices moved sharply higher on Monday, extending recent gains amid renewed geopolitical concerns after Hezbollah and Israeli forces exchanged attacks across the Lebanon-Israel border. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery shot up $2.36 or 3.2 percent to $77.19 a barrel.