Japanese Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is modestly lower on Wednesday, extending the slight losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling to a tad above the 40,000 mark, as traders engaged in booking some profits after the recent strength in the markets that took the indices to record all-time highs.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 87.32 or 0.22 percent at 40,010.31, after hitting a low of 39,769.04 earlier. Japanese stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing 1.5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 1 percent and Toyota is edging up 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is edging up 0.2 percent and Screen Holdings is gaining almost 2, while Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.2 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.2 percent.

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

Among other major losers, Renesas Electronics is losing almost 4 percent, while Lasertec, TDK and Sumco are declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Kawasaki Heavy Industries is advancing more than 4 percent, Aozora Bank is gaining almost 4 percent and Tokyo Tatemono is adding almost 4 percent, while Yokogawa Electric, GS Yuasa, Hino Motors, Nitori Holdings, Tokyu Fudosan, Sumitomo Realty & Development and Resona Holdings are up almost 3 percent each.

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

On the Wall Street, stocks showed a more substantial move to the downside during trading on Tuesday following the modest pullback seen during the previous session. The major averages all moved notably lower, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a particularly steep drop.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the close but remained firmly negative. The Nasdaq plunged 267.92 points or 1.7 percent to 15,939.59, the S&P 500 tumbled 52.30 points or 1.0 percent to 5,078.65 and the Dow slumped 404.64 points or 1.0 percent to 38,585.19.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices settled lower on Tuesday, falling for the second consecutive session on concerns about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down $0.59 at $78.15 a barrel.