Japanese Market Significantly Lower

(RTTNews) - Giving up some of the gains in the previous two sessions, the Japanese stock market is significantly lower on Tuesday, with the Nikkei 225 falling to a tad above the 36,100 level, following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with losses in index heavyweights, exporters and financial stocks partially offset by gains in technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 248.61 points or 0.68 percent at 36,105.55, after hitting a low of 36,065.98 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 1 percent and Toyota is also declining almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Screen Holdings is advancing almost 3 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.2 percent, Mizuho Financial is losing more than 1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial declining almost 2 percent.

The major exporters are weak. Panasonic is losing more than 1 percent, Canon is declining almost 1 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is plunging more than 6 percent and Sony is slipping more than 2 percent.

Among the other major losers, Omron is plummeting more than 15 percent, Pacific Metals is plunging more than 10 percent, Yamato Holdings is sliding almost 9 percent, Aozora Bank is losing more than 4 percent and Yaskawa Electric is declining almost 4 percent, while SMC, Daikin Industries, Kubota, Seiko Epson and Astellas Pharma are all down more than 3 percent each. Toto, Tokyo Tatemono, Tosoh and M3 are slipping almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, UBE is gaining almost 5 percent, while Shiseido and East Japan Railway are adding more than 3 percent each. Nippon Electric Glass, Konica Minolta and Keio are advancing almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, the average of household spending in Japan was down 2.5 percent on year in December, the Ministry of Communications and Internal Affairs said on Tuesday - coming in at 329,518 yen. That missed expectations for a drop of 2.0 percent following the 2.9 percent decline in November. On a monthly basis, household spending sank 0.9 percent - again missing forecasts for an increase of 0.2 percent following the 1.0 percent decline in the previous month. The average of monthly income per household stood at 1,099,805 yen, down 7.2 percent on year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid-148 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a significant pullback during morning trading on Monday following the rally seen over the two previous sessions. The major averages staged a recovery attempt over the course of the afternoon but still finished the day in negative territory.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq dipped 31.28 points or 0.2 percent to 15,597.68 after falling as much as 1.0 percent in early trading. The S&P 500 fell 15.80 points or 0.3 percent to 4,942.81, while the narrower Dow remained more firmly in the red, closing down 274.30 points or 0.7 percent at 38,380.12.

The major European markets also saw modest weakness on the day. While the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both closed just below the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices settled higher on Monday as concerns about trade and supply disruptions outweighed a firm dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March settled lower by $0.50 or 0.7 percent a barrel at $72.78 a barrel.