Japanese Market Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading notably lower on Wednesday, reversing some of the sharp gains in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 65,000 mark, with weakness in index heavyweights, automakers and exporter stocks partially offset by gains in financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 422.47 or 0.65 percent at 64,994.16, after hitting a low of 64,441.61 earlier. Japanese stocks ended sharply higher on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is tumbling more than 7 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 1 percent and Toyota is also down almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 2 percent, while Screen Holdings is soaring more than 9 percent and Tokyo Electron is surging more than 6 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are adding almost 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining more than 2 percent.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic are losing almost 3 percent each, while Canon is edging down 0.4 percent and Sony is declining more than 2 percent.

Among other major losers, Sumco is tumbling more than 8 percent, while Sumitomo Electric Industries, Nintendo and Furukawa Electric are plunging more than 7 percent each. Fujikura is sliding more than 6 percent and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is slipping almost 5 percent, while Yaskawa Electric, Nippon Electric Glass, Resonac Holdings, Taiyo Yuden and Daiichi Sankyo are declining more than 4 percent each. JTEKT is losing almost 4 percent and Murata Manufacturing is down more than 3 percent.

Conversely, Kawasaki Heavy Industries is advancing more than 4 percent and Sumitomo Metal Mining is gaining almost 4 percent, while Recruit Holdings, ZOZO, Dai-ichi Life Group, J. Front Retailing, Lasertec and T&D Holdings are adding almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, producer prices in Japan were up 0.9 percent on month in May, the Bank of Japan said on Wednesday. That exceeded expectations for an increase of 0.5 percent following the upwardly revised 2.8 percent jump in April (originally 2.3 percent).

On a yearly basis, producer prices jumped 6.3 percent - again topping forecasts for 5.6 percent and up from the upwardly revised 5.3 percent in the previous month (originally 4.9 percent).

Export prices were up 0.7 percent on month and 11.7 percent on year, the central bank said. And import prices rose 3.0 percent on month and 15.5 percent on year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 160 yen-range on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks went on another roller coaster ride over the course of the trading session on Tuesday following the sell-off seen last Friday and the subsequent rebound on Monday. The major averages moved to the upside early in the session before pulling sharply only to regain ground in afternoon trading.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq eventually ended the session down 250.84 points or 1 percent at 25,678.82. The S&P 500 also fell 19.08 points or 0.3 percent to 7,386.65, while the narrower Dow rose 86.10 points or 0.2 percent to 50,872.11. The major European markets also displayed a mixed performance on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1.4 percent and the German DAX Index slid by 0.7 percent, although the French CAC 40 Index bucked the downtrend and inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices plunged on Tuesday after Israel and Iran halted their exchange of attacks. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was down $3.11 or 3.41 percent at $88.19 per barrel.