Japanese Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is modestly lower on Wednesday, adding to the losses in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 38,400 level, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 99.57 or 0.26 percent at 38,371.63, after hitting a low of 38,160.83 earlier. Japanese stocks ended sharply lower on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 2 percent and Toyota is declining more than 1 percent.

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

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is losing almost 2 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are down almost 1 percent each.

Among the major exporters, Sony and Panasonic are losing more than 2 percent each, while Canon is edging down 0.3 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is declining more than 1 percent.

Among other major losers, LY is slipping more than 5 percent, while Chubu Electric Power and Oriental Land are down more than 4 percent each. Kansai Electric Power, Tokyo Electric Power, Comsys Holdings, ENEOS Holdings and J. Front Retailing are declining almost 4 percent each, while Omron, Mitsubishi Motors and Mazda Motor are losing more than 3 percent each. Sumitomo Metal Mining, JGC Holdings, Oji Holdings and Inpex are sliding almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Resonac Holdings is soaring more than 12 percent, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is gaining more than 4 percent, Fujikura is adding almost 4 percent and Kawasaki Heavy Industries is up almost 3 percent.

In economic news, Japan posted a merchandise trade surplus of 366.5 billion yen in March, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday. That beat forecasts for a surplus of 107.4 billion yen following the upwardly revised 377.8 billion yen deficit in February (originally -379.4 billion yen).

Exports were up 7.3 percent on year to 9.469 trillion yen after adding 7.8 percent in the previous month. Imports slumped an annual 4.9 percent to 9.103 trillion yen after rising 0.5 percent a month earlier.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 154 yen-range on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, as traders took a breather following the sell-off seen over the two previous sessions. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing narrowly mixed.

While the Dow rose 63.86 points or 0.2 percent to 37,798.97, snapping a six-session losing streak, the Nasdaq edged down 19.77 points or 0.1 percent to 15,865.25 and the S&P 500 slipped 10.41 points or 0.2 percent to 5,051.41.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also showed significant moves to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index tumbled by 1.8 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both slumped by 1.4 percent.

Crude oil prices showed a lack of direction on Tuesday before easing slightly as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen indicated the U.S. plans to impose new sanctions on Iran in response to the country's attack on Israel. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery dipped $0.05 or 0.1 percent to $85.36 a barrel.