The Japanese stock market opened lower on Wednesday with the yen's surge against the euro triggering some selling in exporters.
With worries about the financial situation in the eurozone and reports that the Chinese government may not come out with a large-sized stimulus to bolster its economy also weighing on sentiment to a notable extent, the market drifted down further and is currently trading notably lower.
Oil, mining, steel, non-ferrous metals and shipbuilding stocks are trading weak. Shares from automobile, financial, retail and services sectors are trading mixed.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index is down 72 points or 0.8 percent at 8,585.
Aozora Bank, down more than 8 percent, is the biggest loser in the Nikkei index. Ebara Corp is trading lower by over 5 percent. Mitsui Chemicals, Nippon Electric Glass, Marubeni Corp, Taiyo Yuden and Pacific Metals are down 3 to 4 percent.
Nisshin Steel, Sharp Corp, Asahi Glass, Nissan Chemical Industries, JX Holdings, Japan Tobacco, Advantest Corp, Nippon Steel, Japan Steel Works, Sumitomo Metal Mining, Mitsui Mining & Smelting and Kobe Steel are all trading lower by over 2 percent.
Among the prominent gainers, Olympus Corp is up more than 5.5 percent, Softbank Corp is trading 3.3 percent higher and Mitsubishi Paper Mills is up with a gain of nearly 3 percent.
Tokyo Gas, Mitsubishi Motors, Tobu Railway, Tokyo Electric Power, Fast Retailing and Yahoo Japan are trading higher by 1 to 2 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the mid 79 yen-range in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 79.47 to the dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan are trading notably lower. New Zealand is trading modestly higher, while Malaysia is up marginally. Markets across the region ended mostly higher on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks ended notably higher on Tuesday amid mixed news out of Europe. While the Dow moved up 125.9 points or 1 percent to 12,580.7, the Nasdaq jumped 33.5 points or 1.2 percent to 2,871 and the S&P 500 ended up 14.6 points or 1.1 percent at 1,332.4.
Major European markets too closed on a high note on Tuesday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index gained 0.7 percent, while the German DAX index and the French CAC 40 index ended higher by 1.2 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.
U.S. crude oil futures snapped a two-day gain to settle lower on Tuesday, on a strengthening dollar that notched a high since July 2010 and investor concerns over the eurozone crisis. Crude for July delivery dropped $0.10 or 0.1 percent to close at $90.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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Market Analysis
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.