Japanese Market Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is sharply lower on Tuesday, extending the losses in the previous three sessions, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 28,500 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with particular weakness in exporters, technology and financial stocks as traders remain concerned over the outlook for interest rates and rising inflation.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 369.29 points or 1.28 percent at 28,425.21, after hitting a low of 28,395.30 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda and Toyota are losing more than 2 percent each.

In the tech space, Advantest is edging up 0.4 percent, while Screen Holdings and Tokyo Electron are losing almost 1 percent each. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing more than 1 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are down almost 1 percent each.

The major exporters are weak, with Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic losing almost 2 percent each, while Sony is declining almost 3 percent and Canon is down more than 1 percent. Among the other major losers, Hino Motors is plunging more than 5 percent, while M3, Denso and NEXON are losing more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, Inpex is gaining more than 4 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 137 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks tumbled right at the stroke of the opening bell on Monday and stayed weak right through the day's session, extending losses from the previous session. The Dow and the S&P 500 suffered their worst session since mid-June.

The major averages all ended notably lower. The Dow ended down 643.13 points or 1.91 percent at 33,063.61. The S&P 500 drifted down 90.49 points or 2.14 percent to 4,137.99, while the Nasdaq settled with a loss of 323.64 points or 2.55 percent at 12,381.57.

The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 0.22 percent down, Germany's DAX dropped 2.32 percent, and France's CAC 40 declined 1.8 percent. Crude oil prices moved lower on Monday on concerns about outlook for energy demand, while the dollar's strength also weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended lower by $0.54 or 0.6 percent at $90.23 a barrel.