The Japanese stock market got off to a weak start on Wednesday with investors indulging in some heavy selling, following a weak lead from Wall Street where stocks tumbled overnight amid renewed worries about the global economic outlook.
With weak sales data for September hurting sentiment, most of the stocks in the automobile space are trading lower. Machinery, pharmaceuticals, steel, non-ferrous metals, electric power and retail stocks too are trading weak.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which declined to 8,608.8 after opening at around 8,650, is currently trading at 8,628, down 141.6 points or 1.6 percent from its previous close.
Toppan Printing, Takashimaya Co., Japan Tobacco Inc., Yaskawa Electric, Nisshin Steel Holdings and NTN Corp. are trading lower by 4 to 5 percent.
Chugai Pharmaceutical, JFE Holdings, Showa Denko KK, Nippon Sheet Glass, Credit Saison, Mitsui Mining & Smelting, Softbank Corp., Nissan Chemical Industries and Pacific Metals are down 2 to 4 percent.
Olympus Corp., Canon Inc., Panasonic Corp., Yahoo Japan, Sony Corp. and Mitsui & Co. are down with sharp losses.
Among bank stocks, Shizuoka Bank, Aozora Bank, SMFG, Mizuho Financial, Chiba Bank and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are trading lower by 1 to 2.4 percent.
In the automobile space, Mazda Motor, Hino Motors, Toyota Motor (TM) and Isuzu Motors are down 2 to 2.2 percent. Honda Motor and Nissan Motor are also trading notably lower.
Meanwhile, Sharp Corp. is trading higher by 3.3 percent, while Tokyo Electron is adding 2 percent, East Japan Railway is up 1.4 percent and Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co. is trading 1.3 percent up.
Sumitomo Metal Mining, West Japan Railway, JX Holdings, Tokyo Gas and J Front Retailing are trading modestly higher.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the lower 78 yen level in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 78.25 to the dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea are trading notably lower, while Shanghai and Malaysia are down with modest losses. Markets across the region had turned in a mixed performance on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks ended sharply lower on Tuesday, amid continued concerns about the outlook for the global economy following the International Monetary Fund lowering its global growth forecast.
The major averages all ended the day firmly in negative territory, with the Nasdaq setting a one-month closing low. While the Nasdaq tumbled 47.3 points or 1.5 percent to 3,065, the Dow slid 110.1 points or 0.8 percent to 13,473.5 and the S&P 500 drifted down 14.4 points or 1 percent to 1,441.5.
Major European markets too ended lower on Tuesday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index lost 0.5 percent, while the French CAC 40 index and the German DAX index slid 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.
U.S. crude oil ended sharply higher on Tuesday, mostly on bargain hunting and renewed supply concerns after news that the ongoing unrest in Syria could spread to adjoining areas, with Turkey keyed up after mortar strikes on its territory.
Crude for November delivery surged $3.06 or 3.4 percent to close at $92.39 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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Market Analysis
June 19, 2026 16:46 ET Major central banks continued to dominate the economic news flow this week too, led by the Federal Reserve, as they announced their latest policy decisions. The Federal Reserve policy session was in focus as it was the first to be led by the new chief Kevin Warsh. In Europe, central banks of the U.K. and Switzerland announced their rate decisions. In Asia, the Bank of Japan drew attention for its policy moves, while data out of China threw some light on the state of the economy.