Japanese Market Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - Declining for the second straight session, the Japanese stock market is sharply lower on Monday, mirroring the mostly negative cues from global markets on Friday. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 31,800 level, with weakness across most sectors led by exporters and technology stocks. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 588.40 or 1.82 percent at 31,727.59, after hitting a low of 31,693.28 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably lower on Friday.

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

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is plunging 4.5 percent, Advantest is declining almost 5 percent and Tokyo Electron is declining more than 3 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.4 percent and Mizuho Financial is losing almost 1 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.2 percent.

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

Among other major losers, Mercari is plunging more than 5 percent, while Odakyu Electric Railway and Keio are losing more than 4 percent each. M3, Yaskawa Electric, Ebara and Keisei Electric Railway are down almost 4 percent each, while Tokyu Fudosan, Fuji Electric and Amada are declining more than 3 percent each. SMC and Astellas Pharma are slipping almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Inpex is gaining almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid-149 yen-range on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading on day on Friday, extending the pullback seen during Thursday's session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a steep drop on the day, while the Dow managed to close modestly higher.

The Nasdaq tumbled 166.98 points or 1.2 percent to 13,407.23 and the S&P 500 slid 21.83 points or 0.5 percent to 4,327.78. Meanwhile, the narrower Dow inched up 39.15 points or 0.1 percent to 33,670.29.

The major European markets have also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index tumbled by 1.4 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Friday amid rising concerns about the potential impact on global crude supplies due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November spiked $4.78 or 5.8 percent at $87.69 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained 6 percent in the week.