Japanese Market Sharply Lower, Down 2.6%

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading sharply lower on Tuesday, reversing the gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei 225 falling well below the 36,100 level, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights, exporters and technology stocks. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 973.68 points or 2.63 percent at 36,054.59, after hitting a low of 35,987.13 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down more than 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.3 percent and Toyota is declining 3.5 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are losing more than 3 percent each, while Screen Holdings is declining almost 3 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing more than 4 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is declining more than 4 percent and Mizuho Financial is slipping more than 6 percent.

The major exporters are mostly lower. Panasonic is losing almost 5 percent, Canon is down almost 2 percent, Sony is declining more than 4 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is down more than 2 percent.

Among the other major losers, Fujikura is tumbling more than 7 percent and IHI is slipping almost 7 percent, while Konica Minolta, NEC and Japan Steel Works are plunging more than 6 percent each. Furukawa Electric, Fujitsu, T&D Holdings, Nomura Holdings, Sumitomo Electric Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries are losing almost 6 percent each, while Ebara, Fukuoka Financial Group and Resona Holdings are declining more than 5 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major gainers.

In economic news, Japan's gross domestic product expanded a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2024, the Cabinet Office said in Tuesday's second preliminary estimate. That was down from the first estimate for a 0.7 percent increase but still up from 0.3 percent in the three months prior. On an annualized basis, GDP was up 2.2 percent - down from 2.8 percent in the first estimate but up from 1.2 percent in the third quarter. Capital expenditure was up 0.6 percent on quarter, beating forecasts for 0.5 percent after slipping 0.1 percent in the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, the average of household spending in Japan was up 0.8 percent on year in January, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Tuesday - coming in at 305,521 yen. That missed forecasts for an increase of 3.7 percent and was down from 2.7 percent in December. On a monthly basis, household spending slumped 4.5 percent - again missing forecasts for a decline of 1.9 percent after rising 2.3 percent in the previous month. The average of monthly income per household stood at 514,877 yen, down 1.1 percent from the previous year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 146 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks tumbled on Monday and the major averages all closed sharply lower, with the tech-laden Nasdaq recording a more pronounced losses. Uncertainty about President Donald Trump's tariff moves, fears of a recession in the world's largest economy, and weak global growth outlook weighed on investor sentiment.

Among the major averages, the Dow closed down 890.01 points or 2.08 percent, at 41,911.71. The S&P 500 ended lower by 155.64 points or 2.7 percent, at 5,614.56, while the Nasdaq dropped 727.90 points or 4 percent to 17,468.32.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down 0.92 percent, Germany's DAX settled 1.6 percent down, and France's CAC 40 closed down 0.9 percent.

Crude oil prices fell to six-month lows on Monday as worries about global economic growth and fears of a U.S. recession fueled demand concerns. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures settled lower by $1.01 or 1.5 percent at $66.03 a barrel, the lowest settlement since September 10, 2024.