Japanese Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is modestly lower in post-holiday trading on Wednesday, reversing some of the gains in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 45,450 level, with a lack of direction leading to a mixed performance across most sectors.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 71.61 or 0.16 percent at 45,422.05, after hitting a low of 45,270.49 earlier. Japanese stocks ended significantly higher on Monday ahead of the holiday on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 3 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is declining almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.2 percent, while Toyota is losing almost 1 percent.

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

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is gaining more than 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.5 percent, Sony is losing more than 3 percent and Canon is down almost 1 percent, while Panasonic is edging up 0.3 percent.

Among other major losers, NEXON is losing more than 5 percent, while Tokyo Electric Power and Takashimaya are declining more than 3 percent each. Sumitomo Chemical is down almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Suzuki Motor is surging almost 5 percent, while IHI and Lasertech are gaining almost 4 percent each. Olympus, Hino Motors, Mitsui Mining & Smelting and Shiseido are adding almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, The S&P Global Japan PMI data showed September manufacturing activity remained in contraction at 48.4 in September from a final reading of 49.7 in August, falling short of expectations of 50.2, according to preliminary estimates. This marked the 14th contraction in factory activity over the past 15 months and the steepest decline since March.

The services PMI edged down to 53.0 in September 2025 from a final 53.1 in the prior month, a preliminary reading showed. It marked the lowest figure since June despite pointing to the sixth straight month of increase in the services sector.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 147 yen-range on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, giving back ground after trending higher over the past few sessions. The major averages all moved to the downside, pulling back off Monday's record closing highs.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way lower, slumping 215.50 points or 1.0 percent to 22,573.47. The S&P 500 slid 36.83 points or 0.6 percent to 6,656.92, while the narrower Dow dipped 88.76 points or 0.2 percent to 46,292.78.

Meanwhile, European stocks moved mostly higher on the day. The French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.5 percent and the German DAX Index rose by 0.4 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the uptrend and closed just below the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices moved sharply higher on Tuesday as Iraq's earlier-announced plans to export oil to Turkey from Kurdistan stalled due to payment issues. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $1.26 or 2.02 percent at $63.54 per barrel.