Japanese Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading modestly lower on Monday, extending the sharp losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 50,200 level, with weakness exporter and automaker stocks as well as a mixed performance across most other sectors.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 200.10 points or 0.40 percent at 50,176.43, after hitting a low of 49,845.66 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 4 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is surging almost 5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 3 percent and Toyota is down almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is edging up 0.4 percent and Tokyo Electron is gaining almost 4 percent, while Screen Holdings is losing almost 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is advancing more than 4 percent and Mizuho Financial is gaining almost 1 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing 1.5 percent.

The major exporters are mostly lower. Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.3 percent, Canon is losing almost 1 percent, Panasonic is declining almost 3 percent and Sony is slipping almost 4 percent.

Among the other major losers, CyberAgent and Shiseido are tumbling more than 9 percent each, while Isetan Mitsukoshi is sliding almost 9 percent and Credit Saison is slipping almost 8 percent. Ryohin Keikaku and Dai Nippon Printing are declining more than 7 percent each. Takashimaya, Sharp, Nissan Motor and Japan Airlines are down almost 5 percent each. Oriental Land is losing more than 5 percent, while Yokohama Rubber and J. Front Retailing are slipping more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, Mitsui Kinzoku is surging more than 7 percent and Chugai Pharmaceutical is gaining more than 5 percent, while Furukawa Electric and Ibiden are adding almost 4 percent each. Fujikura and Nichirei are advancing almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, Japan's gross domestic product contracted a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent on quarter in the third quarter of 2025, the Cabinet Office said on Monday - following the upwardly revised 0.6 percent expansion in the previous three months (originally 0.5 percent). On an annualized basis, GDP was down 1.8 percent following the upwardly revised 2.3 percent gain in the three months prior (originally 2.2 percent).

Capital expenditure was up 1.0 percent on quarter, up from 0.8 percent in Q2, while external demand slipped 0.2 percent on quarter after rising 0.2 percent in the previous quarter. The GDP price Index was up 2.8 percent on year, easing from 3.0 percent in the second quarter. GDP private consumption perked 0.1 percent on quarter, easing from 0.4 percent in Q2.

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

On Wall Street, stocks saw further downside in early trading on Friday following the sell-off seen during Thursday's session, but showed a significant recovery attempt as the day progressed.

The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 climbed well off their lows and into positive territory before eventually ending the day roughly flat. The tech-heavy Nasdaq inched up 30.23 points or 0.1 percent 22,900.59, while the S&P 500 edged down 3.38 points or 0.1 percent to 6,734.11 and the narrower Dow sliding 309.74 points or 0.7 percent to 47,147.48.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index fell by 0.8 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices rallied on Friday after a Ukrainian drone attack damaged an oil depot in the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $1.28 or 2.2 percent at $59.97 a barrel.