Japanese Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - Adding to the losses in the previous session, the Japanese stock market is modestly lower on Friday after opening in the green, following the lackluster cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark Nikkei 225 is falling below the 33,500 level, as traders continued to book profits in the last session of the year after the recent strength in the market.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 61.66 points or 0.18 percent to 33,477.96, after hitting a low of 33,407.76 earlier. Japanese stocks closed notably lower on Thursday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest is losing more than 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is declining almost 1 percent, while Screen Holdings is edging up 0.1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.3 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is adding almost 1 percent, while Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.4 percent, while Canon and Panasonic are losing almost 1 percent each. Sony is edging up 0.3 percent.

Among other major losers, Sumitomo Pharma is losing more than 3 percent.

Conversely, Rakuten Group is surging almost 6 percent and Nintendo is gaining more than 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid-141 yen-range on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a lackluster performance during trading on Thursday, extending the choppy trading seen throughout much of the week. The major averages eventually ended the session narrowly mixed.

While the Nasdaq edged down 4.04 points or less than a tenth of a percent to15,096.14, the Dow inched up 53.58 points or 0.1 percent to a new record closing high of 37,710.10 and the S&P 500 crept up 1.77 points or less than a tenth of a percent to a nearly two-year closing high of 4.783.35.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside. While the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index dipped by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed just below the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Thursday on easing concerns about trade disruptions after several shipping companies resumed transit via the Red Sea. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended down $2.34 or 3 percent at $71.77 a barrel.