Japanese Market Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading sharply lower on Monday, giving up the gains in the previous session. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling below the 32,600 level, following the mixed cues from global markets on Friday, with losses across most sectors, led by exporters and financial stocks.

Traders also cautiously await the Bank of Japan's final monetary policy meeting of the year later in the week, with the central bank expected to maintain its ultra-dovish stance.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 402.15 or 1.22 percent at 32,568.40, after hitting a low of 32,545.91 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly higher on Friday.

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

In the tech space, Screen Holdings and Tokyo Electron are edging down 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Advantest is declining 2.5 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing more than 3 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining almost 3 percent and Mizuho Financial is down almost 1 percent.

The major exporters are mostly lower. Canon is losing more than 1 percent and Panasonic is down almost 2 percent, while Sony is declining almost 3 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is slipping more than 3 percent.

Among other major losers, Sharp and Sumitomo Realty & Development are losing more than 4 percent each, while Mitsubishi Materials, Mitsui Fudosan, Toppan Holdings, Tokyu Fudosan, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust, NEXON, Chubu Electric Power, Tokyo Electric Power, Dai Nippon Printing, Keisei Electric Railway, Renesas Electronics, Concordia Financial and Recruit Holdings are all declining almost 4 percent each.

Conversely, Nippon Yusen K.K. and Nissan Chemical are gaining more than 4 percent each, while Mitsui O.S.K. Lines is adding almost 4 percent. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is up more than 3 percent and CyberAgent is advancing almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 142 yen-range on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Friday after moving notably higher over the past several sessions. Despite the choppy trading, the Dow reached another new record closing high.

The Dow edged up 56.81 points or 0.2 percent to 37,305.16, closing higher for the seventh consecutive session. The Nasdaq also climbed 52.36 points or 0.4 percent to a nearly two-year closing high of 14,813.92, while the S&P 500 edged down 0.36 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 4,719.19.

The major European markets also turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index closed nearly unchanged and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1.0 percent.

Crude oil posted their first weekly gain in two months despite settling on a slightly weak note on Friday. An upward revision in oil demand forecast by the International Energy Agency and a weak dollar pushed up crude oil prices over the past few sessions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January eased $0.15 at $71.43 a barrel on Friday but added 0.2% for the week.