Japanese Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - Extending the losses in the previous session, the Japanese stock market is modestly lower on Wednesday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is pulling back from 34-year highs and falling below the 36,400 level, with losses exporters and index heavyweights partially offset by gains in financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 149.70 or 0.41 percent at 36,367.87, after hitting a low of 36,247.61 earlier. Japanese stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is flat and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.4 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.4 percent, while Toyota is edging up 0.1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 2 percent, Tokyo Electron is adding almost 1 percent and Screen Holdings is advancing almost 4 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding almost 4 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is advancing almost 2 percent and Mizuho Financial is gaining almost 3 percent.

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

Among other major losers, Odakyu Electric Railway is losing more than 3 percent and Sumitomo Realty & Development is declining almost 3 percent.

Conversely, NEXON is gaining more than 5 percent.

In economic news, Japan posted a merchandise trade surplus of 62.121 billion yen in December, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday. That beat forecasts for a deficit of 122.1 billion yen following the 776.9 billion yen shortfall in November.

Exports jumped 9.8 percent on year to 9.648 trillion yen, exceeding expectations for an increase of 9.1 percent following the 0.2 percent contraction in the previous month. Imports slumped an annual 6.8 percent to 9.586 trillion yen versus forecasts for a drop of 5.3 percent after sinking 11.9 percent a month earlier.

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

On the Wall Street, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Tuesday, with the major averages bouncing back and forth across the unchanged after ending Monday's trading modestly higher. Despite the choppy trading, the S&P 500 reached a new record closing high.

The major averages eventually ended the session narrowly mixed. While the Dow dipped 96.36 points or 0.3 percent to 37,905.45, the Nasdaq climbed 65.66 points or 0.4 percent to 15,425.94 and the S&P 500 rose 14.17 points or 0.3 percent to 4,864.60.

Meanwhile, the major European markets saw modest weakness on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed just below the unchanged, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both dipped 0.3 percent.

Crude oil futures eased Tuesday amid uncertainty about the outlook for global oil demand and after Libya restarted production at the Sharara oilfield, which was shut for two weeks due to protests. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March fell $0.39 or 0.5 percent at $74.37 a barrel.