The Japanese stock market is trading lower on Tuesday with investors pressing sales amid lingering worries about the financial situation in the eurozone.
After opening flat and drifting down by over 50 points subsequently, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index is currenty down 24.5 points or 0.3 percent at 8,483.8.
Electric power, railway, financial, steel and non-ferrous metals stocks opened higher on bargain hunting, but gave up most of their gains subsequently due to stiff resistance at higher levels. Shares from insurance, oil, mining and services sections are trading weak.
Shares of Sharp Corp. are down more than 3.5 percent on reports the company will likely report a wider than expected loss. According to reports the company is likely to report a net loss of about 100 billion yen for the three months ended June 30.
Oki Electric Industry Co. shares are down more than 5 percent. IHI Corp is down nearly 5 percent and Mitsubishi Motors is trading lower by about 4 percent.
Isuzu Motors, Taiyo Yuden, Toshiba Corp, Sumitomo Realty & Development, Mitsui Fudosan, Sumitomo Chemical, Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp, Olympus Corp and Mitsubishi Electric Corp are down 2 to 3.5 percent.
Casio Computer, Mizuho Financial, Nippon Yusen KK, Softbank Corp, Toyota Motor and Furukawa Co are also trading sharply lower.
Meanwhile, Mitsumi Electric, Keisei Electric Railway, Panasonic Corp, West Japan Railway, All Nippon Airways and Mitsubishi Paper Mills are gaining 1.5 to 3 percent.
Nippon Electric Glass, Toyo Seikan Kaisha, Mazda Motor, Suzuki Motor, Credit Saison, Fast Retailing, Trend Micro, Daikin Industries and Central Japan Railway are also up with strong gains.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the lower 78-yen range in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 78.23 to the dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Korea and Taiwan are trading weak, while Shanghai and Singapore are up in positive territory. Markets across the region posted notable losses on Monday.
On Wall Street, stocks ended notably lower on Monday after plunging sharply early on in the session amid mounting concerns about the financial situation in Europe.
The major averages moved roughly sideways going into the close of trading, stuck firmly in negative territory. The Dow ended down 101.1 points or 0.8 percent at 12,721.5, the Nasdaq slid 35.1 points or 1.2 percent to 2,890.2 and the S&P 500 dropped 12.1 points or 0.9 percent to 1,350.5.
Major European markets also moved sharply lower on Monday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index tumbled by 2.1 percent, while the French CAC 40 index and the German DAX index plunged by 2.9 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively.
U.S. crude oil ended sharply lower on Monday, mostly on demand concerns with the eurozone financial problems back in focus and a strong dollar. Crude for September, the new front-month contract, shed $3.69 or 4 percent to close at $88.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
by RTT Staff Writer
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