Japanese Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese market is modestly lower on Thursday, reversing the gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling to stay a tad above the 39,300 level, with weakness in some index heavyweights and financial stocks partially offset by gains in technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 99.97 points or 0.25 percent to 39,314.81, after hitting a low of 39,221.36 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly higher on Wednesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging up 0.3 percent, while Honda is edging down 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 3 percent, Tokyo Electron is adding almost 1 percent and Screen Holdings is edging up 0.1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging down 0.4 percent each, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing more than 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Panasonic is gaining 2.5 percent and Canon is adding almost 1 percent, while Sony is losing almost 2 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is down almost 1 percent.

Among other major losers, Keyence is losing more than 3 percent and Yaskawa Electric is declining almost 3 percent.

Conversely, IHI is gaining almost 4 percent and DeNA is adding more than 3 percent, while Nissan Motor, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hino Motors, Sumitomo Pharma and Hitachi are adding almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid-154 yen-range on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Wednesday, partly offsetting the notable rebound seen in the previous session. The major averages climbed off their worst levels in late-day trading but still closed in negative territory.

The Nasdaq slid 101.26 points or 0.5 percent to 19,632.32, the S&P 500 fell 28.39 points or 0.5 percent to 6,039.31 and the Dow dipped 136.83 points or 0.3 percent to 44,713.52.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index fell 0.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent and the German DAX Index jumped by 1.0 percent.

Crude oil prices dropped on Wednesday after data showed crude inventories in the U.S. rose last week, while concerns about the outlook for oil demand from China continued to weigh on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures ended lower by $1.15 or 1.56 percent at $72.62 a barrel.