Japanese Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading significantly lower on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous three sessions, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 44,600 level, with weakness across most sectors led by exporters and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 339.99 or 0.76 percent at 44,592.64, after hitting a low of 44,453.11 earlier. Japanese stocks ended modestly lower on Tuesday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 1 percent and Screen Holdings is adding more than 1 percent, while Tokyo Electron is losing more than 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are losing more than 2 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is declining almost 3 percent.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is declining almost 2 percent, Sony is losing almost 1 percent, Canon is down more than 1 percent and Panasonic is slipping more than 2 percent.

Among other major losers, IHI is tumbling more than 5 percent, Nitori Holdings are declining almost 5 percent and BayCurrent is slipping almost 4 percent, while M3, Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Murata Manufacturing, Credit Saison, Japan Steel Works and JGC Holdings are losing more than 3 percent each. Dai-ichi Life, Mercari, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Tokio Marine are down almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Otsuka Holdings is surging almost 5 percent and Chugai Pharmaceutical is gaining almost 4 percent.

In economic news, large manufacturing in Japan accelerated slightly in the third quarter of 2025, the Bank of Japan's quarterly Tankan Survey of business sentiment showed on Wednesday with a diffusion index score of +14. That was in line with forecasts for +10 and was up from +13 in the previous three months. The outlook came in at +12, missing forecasts for +13 and unchanged from the previous quarter.

The large non-manufacturers index came in at +34, beating forecasts for +33 and unchanged from Q2. The outlook rose to +28 from +27 in the three months prior. The small manufacturing index was steady at +1 with an outlook of -1, while the small non-manufacturing index slipped to +14 from +15.

Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to contract in September, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from Jibun revealed on Wednesday with a manufacturing PMI score of 48.5. That's down from 49.7 in August and it moves further beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 148 yen-range on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Tuesday after moving mostly higher over the two previous sessions. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line for much of the session before a late-day advance.

The upward move seen going into the end of the day helped the major averages close in positive territory. The S&P 500 climbed 27.25 points or 0.4 percent to 6,688.46, the Nasdaq rose 68.86 points or 0.3 percent to 22,660.01 and the Dow increased 81.82 points or 0.2 percent at 46,397.89.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index inched up by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index climbed by 0.5 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices declined sharply on Tuesday, extending recent losses as excess supply concerns continue to linger due to the anticipated production increase by OPEC. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $1.08 or 1.70 percent at $62.37 per barrel.