Japanese Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is notably lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 33,300 level, following the lack of cues from Wall Street overnight, with traders reacting service activity data that showed the slowest growth in four months.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 161.53 or 0.48 percent at 33,260.99, after hitting a low of 33,041.14 earlier. Japanese stocks ended significantly lower on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing more than 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda and Toyota are edging up 0.1 percent each.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is edging up 0.2 percent and Advantest is gaining more than 2 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.2 percent.

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

Among the major exporters, and Canon is edging up 0.4 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is gaining more than 1 percent, while Panasonic is losing almost 1 percent. Sony is flat.

There are no other major losers.

Conversely, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is surging 6.5 percent and Daiichi Sankyo is gaining more than 4 percent, while Dai-ichi Life and Renesas Electronics are adding almost 4 percent each. Z Holdings is up more than 3 percent, while Nippon Yusen K.K., Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Suzuki Motor are advancing almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, the services sector in Japan continued to expand in June, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Wednesday with a services PMI score of 54.0. That's down from the series record of 55.9 in May, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the composite index slipped to 52.1 in June from 54.3 in May.

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

The Wall Street was closed on account of Independence Day holiday on Tuesday. The shares closed slightly higher on Monday.

The major European markets moved to the downside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 0.1 percent down, Germany's DAX drifted down 0.26 percent and France's CAC 40 ended lower by 0.23 percent.