(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is losing on Wednesday following the mixed lead overnight from Wall Street amid concerns about the recent spike in coronavirus cases and continued uncertainty about the prospects for U.S. fiscal stimulus.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 96.28 points or 0.41 percent to 23,389.52, after touching a low of 23,334.23 in early trades. Japanese stocks closed little changed on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is advancing more than 1 percent and Fast Retailing is adding 0.7 percent.
The major exporters are mostly lower on a stronger safe-haven yen. Canon is losing more than 3 percent, Panasonic is declining more than 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is down 0.6 percent, while Sony is advancing almost 1 percent.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are declining more than 1 percent each. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 2 percent and Toyota is lower by almost 1 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is declining 0.5 percent and Tokyo Electron is down 0.3 percent.
ANA Holdings is losing almost 1 percent after the airline forecast an operating loss of 505 billion yen for the year through March 2021 and said it is planning cost reductions of 150 billion yen in the current fiscal year under a restructuring plan.
Among the other major gainers, Screen Holdings and M3 are rising more than 2 percent each, while Z Holdings and Japan Exchange Group are higher by almost 2 percent each.
Conversely, Hitachi Construction Machinery is tumbling almost 7 percent and Fujitsu is losing more than 5 percent. Nippon Sheet Glass and Shinsei Bank are lower by almost 5 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid 104 yen-range on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed mixed on Tuesday amid concerns about the recent spike in coronavirus cases as well as continued uncertainty about the prospects for a new stimulus bill. Traders were also reacting to some mixed economic data, with separate reports showing a jump in durable goods orders and an unexpected dip in consumer confidence.
The Nasdaq climbed 72.41 points or 0.6 percent to 11,431.35, while the Dow slid 222.19 points or 0.8 percent to 27,463.19 and the S&P 500 fell 10.29 points or 0.3 percent to 3,390.68.
The major European markets moved to the downside on Tuesday. The French CAC 40 Index tumbled 1.8 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped 1.1 percent and the German DAX Index slid 0.9 percent.
Crude oil prices moved higher on Tuesday, lifted by reports about evacuation of over 150 offshore facilities along the U.S. Gulf Coast due to Hurricane Zeta. WTI crude for December gained $1.01 or about 2.6 percent to $39.57 a barrel.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
