TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - Adding to the losses in the previous two sessions, the Japanese market is slightly lower on Thursday after opening in the green, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is falling below the 38,700 level, with weakness in index heavyweights and technology stocks partially offset by gains in exporters, automakers and financial stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 44.99 points or 0.12 percent to 38,676.67, after touching a high of 39,084.44 and a low of 38,621.88 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Wednesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is gaining 1.5 percent and Honda is adding more than 1 percent.
In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is losing more than 3 percent, Advantest is down more than 1 percent and Screen Holdings is edging down 0.4 percent.
In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is gaining almost 1 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding more than 1 percent.
Among the major exporters, Canon is adding almost 2 percent, Sony is up almost 1 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is advancing 2.5 percent and Panasonic is gaining almost 3 percent.
Among other major losers, Kansai Electric Power is plummeting more than 16 percent, Toppan Holdings is plunging more than 6 percent, Sumitomo Pharma is sliding more than 5 percent, Kuraray is slipping almost 5 percent and Lasertec is losing more than 4 percent, while Isetan Mitsukoshi and Dai Nippon Printing are declining almost 4 percent each. Sumco, JGC Holdings and Seven & I Holdings are down more than 3 percent each, while ZOZO is declining almost 3 percent.
Conversely, Mercari is surging more than 7 percent and Kubota is gaining more than 6 percent, while Sumitomo Electric Industries and Sapporo Holdings are adding more than 5 percent each. Furukawa Electric, Fanuc and Fujitsu are advancing almost 4 percent each, while Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are rising more than 3 percent each. Itochu, Mazda Motor and Mitsubishi Chemical Group are up almost 3 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 1545 yen-range on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Wednesday, with the major averages bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line following the pullback seen in the previous session.
The major averages eventually ended the day narrowly mixed. While the tech-heavy Nasdaq dipped 50.66 points or 0.3 percent to 19,230.74, the S&P 500 crept up 1.39 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 5,985.38 and the Dow inched up 47.21 points or 0.1 percent to 43,958.19.
The major European markets also finished the day narrowly mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index edged down 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index dipped 0.2 percent.
Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday thanks to short covering after recent sharp losses, while a firm dollar also weighed. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December closed up $0.31 or 0.46 percent at $68.43 a barrel.
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