Japanese Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading modestly lower on Monday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 falling well below the 39,500 level, with weakness across most sectors led by financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 143.90 points or 0.36 percent at 39,425.78, after hitting a low of 39,318.37 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.2 percent and Toyota is also edging up 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 1 percent, while Tokyo Electron is losing almost 2 percent and Screen Holdings is edging down 0.4 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are losing more than 1 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is declining more than 2 percent.

The major exporters are mostly lower. Panasonic and Sony are losing more than 1 percent each, while Canon is down almost 1 percent. Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.5 percent. Among the other major losers, Sumco is losing more than 3 percent, while NEXON, Shiseido and Yaskawa Electric are declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, IHI Corp. and Ryohin Keikaku are advancing almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, the value of core machinery orders in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent on month in May, the Cabinet Office said on Monday - coming in at 913.5 billion yen. That beat forecasts for a contraction of 1.4 percent following the 9.1 percent decline in April. On a yearly basis, orders rose 4.4 percent - again exceeding expectations for 3.4 percent following the 6.6 percent jump in the previous month.

Government orders were up 25.2 percent on month and 36.9 percent on year at 499.0 billion yen, while orders from overseas fell 6.4 percent on month and 11.8 percent on year to 1,263.3 billion yen. For the second quarter of 2025, core machinery orders are forecast to sink 2.1 percent on quarter and 1.0 percent on year. The total value of machinery orders received by 280 manufacturers operating in Japan increased 3.8 percent on month but fell 3.1 percent on year at 3,089.6 billion yen.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 146 yen-range on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks regained some ground over the course of the trading day on Friday but still closed modestly lower after coming under pressure early in the session. The major averages all moved to the downside, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 pulling back off Thursday's record closing highs.

The Dow slid 279.13 points or 0.6 percent to 44,371.51, the Nasdaq slipped 45.14 points or 0.2 percent to 20,585.53 and the S&P 500 fell 20.71 points or 0.3 percent to 6,259.75.

The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index slid by 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Friday after the International Energy Agency upwardly revised its oil supply forecast and also buoyed by lingering geopolitical risks in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery closed up $1.88 to settle at $68.45 per barrel.