Japanese Market Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is sharply lower on Wednesday, giving up the slight gains in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 25,800 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with traders remaining concerned about interest rate hikes and recessionary fears even as they returned from a extended-new year weekend.

Traders also reacted to domestic data that showed the manufacturing sector continuing to contract at a faster rate in December.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 343.65 points or 1.32 percent at 25,750.85, after hitting a low of 25,661.89 earlier. Japanese stocks ended slightly higher on Friday prior to the extended New Year weekend holidays.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down 1.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.5 percent, while Toyota is losing almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.4 percent, Advantest losing more than 2 percent and Screen Holdings is down more than 1 percent.

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

Among the major exporters, Sony is gaining almost 2 percent, while Canon and Mitsubishi Electric are losing almost 1 percent each. Panasonic is edging down 0.4 percent.

Among the other major losers, Eisai, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha and Nippon Yusen K.K. are plunging almost 6 percent each, while Daiichi Sankyo is losing more than 5 percent. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Mitsubishi Motors are slipping almost 5 percent each, while Tokyo Gas is declining more than 4 percent. Sapporo Holdings, Mazda Motor and Inpex are down almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Nippon Sheet Glass is gaining almost 4 percent.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to contract in December, and at a slightly faster rate, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Wednesday with a manufacturing PMI score of 48.9. That's down from 49.0 in November 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 higher 130 yen-range on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks finished Tuesday's trading mostly lower, starting the New Year off on a negative note. The major averages saw initial strength but came under pressure over the course of morning trading.

The major averages climbed well off their worst levels late in the session but remained in negative territory. The Dow edged down 10.88 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 33,136.37, the Nasdaq slid 79.50 points or 0.8 percent to 10,386.98 and the S&P 500 fell 15.36 points or 0.4 percent to 3,824.14.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1.4 percent, the German DAX Index climbed by 0.8 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand due to rising fears of a recession. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended down $3.33 or 4.2 percent at $76.93 a barrel, a two-week low.