Japanese Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading notably lower on Tuesday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 44,750 level, as traders reacted to downbeat retail sales and industrial output data, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights, automakers and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 294.56 points or 0.65 percent at 44,749.19, after hitting a low of 44,733.60 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably lower on Monday.

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

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is edging up 0.3 percent, while Advantest is losing almost 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is down almost 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each.

The major exporters are mostly lower. Panasonic and Canon are edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Sony is losing more than 1 percent. Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the other major losers, Inpex is declining almost 4 percent and Idemitsu Kosan is losing almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Ebara is jumping more than 6 percent and IHI is surging more than 5 percent, while Sumitomo Pharma and BayCurrent are gaining more than 3 percent each SMC and M3 are adding almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, industrial production in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 1.2 percent on month in August, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Tuesday. That missed forecasts for a decline of 0.7 percent following the 1.2 percent drop in July. On a yearly basis, industrial production slumped 1.3 percent. The METI maintained its assessment of industrial production, saying that it continues to fluctuate indecisively. According to the METI's forecast, industrial production is expected to jump 4.1 percent in September and 1.2 percent in October.

The METI also said The value of retail sales in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 1.1 percent on month in August - coming in at 12.683 trillion yen. That missed forecasts for an increase of 0.1 percent following the 0.4 percent gain in July. On a yearly basis, sales were also up 1.1 percent - missing expectations for a 1.0 percent gain following the 0.4 percent increase in the previous month.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 148 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Monday, adding to the gains posted during last Friday's session. The major averages all moved to the upside on the day, although buying interest was somewhat subdued.

The major averages finished the day in positive territory but off their early highs. The Nasdaq climbed 107.09 points or 0.5 percent to 22,591.15, the S&P 500 rose 17.51 points or 0.3 percent to 6,661.21 and the Dow inched up 68.78 points or 0.2 percent to 46,316.07.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index crept up by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index inched up by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index closed just above the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Monday in the wake of oversupply concerns thanks to OPEC's plans for increasing output. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $2.50 or 3.80 percent at $63.22 per barrel.