Japanese Market Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is slightly lower in choppy trading on Wednesday, extending the losses in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 26,400 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with weakness in technology stocks and exporters. A downward revision in the global economic growth forecast by the International Monetary Fund also weighed on the market.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 16.27 points or 0.06 percent at 26,384.98, after hitting a low of 26,313.41 and a high of 26,495.75 earlier. Japanese stocks closed sharply lower on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.1 percent, while Toyota is gaining more the 1 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is losing more than 3 percent, Tokyo Electron is declining more than 4 percent and Advantest is slipping almost 3 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony and Panasonic are losing more than 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.5 percent and Canon is slipping almost 1 percent.

Among the other major losers, NEXON and Sumco are losing more than 3 percent each, while Pacific Metals and Sumitomo Osaka Cement are down almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no major gainers.

In economic news, the value of core machinery orders in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 5.8 percent on month in August, the Cabinet Office said on Wednesday - standing at 909.8 billion yen. That missed expectations for a decline of 2.3 percent following the 5.3 percent gain in July. On a yearly basis, core machinery orders climbed 9.7 percent - again shy of expectations for an increase of 12.6 percent and down from 12.8 percent in the previous month. For the third quarter of 2022, orders are seen lower by 1.8 percent on quarter and higher by 7.4 percent on year.

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

On Wall Street, stocks recovered gradually after a weak start Tuesday morning, and after emerging into positive territory, faltered again as the day progressed amid rising worries about interest rates and economic slowdown. A downward revision in global growth forecast by the International Monetary Fund weighed as well.

The major averages closed mixed on the day. The Dow ended the session with a gain of 36.31 points or 0.12 percent at 29,239.19, while the S&P 500 settled at 3,588.84, down 23.55 points or 0.65 percent from the previous close and the Nasdaq settled at 10,426.19, down 115.91 points or 1.1 percent.

The major European markets closed weak, as worries about surging inflation, rising interest rates and slowing growth continued to weigh on sentiment. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 1.06 percent, Germany's DAX ended 0.43 percent down, and France's CAC 40 edged down 0.13 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday, extending losses from the previous session on concerns about outlook for energy demand amid the rising possibility of a global recession. A surge in COVID-19 cases in China and fears of further monetary policy tightening also weighed. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November sank $1.78 or 2 percent at $89.35 a barrel.