The Japanese stock market opened on a weak note and drifted further lower on Monday amid concerns about euro zone debt worries. Bank stocks declined as the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision raised capital adequacy requirements for the world's biggest lenders. Stocks were also negatively impacted on concerns that Greece may not meet bailout conditions.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which declined to around 9,570, is currently trading at 9,590.6, down 88.1 points or 0.9 percent from its previous close.
Apart from key bank stocks, several stocks from insurance, manufacturing and non-ferrous metals sections are trading notably lower. Electric power, automobile, steel and pharmaceuticals stocks are trading mixed.
Mizuho Trust & Banking, Chiba Bank, Shizuoka Bank, Bank of Yokohama and Mizuho Financial are trading lower by 1.5 to 2.5 percent. Shinsei Bank is also trading notably lower.
Among automobile stocks, Mazda Motor and Toyota Motor are trading notably lower. Suzuki Motor, Nissan Motor and Honda Motor are up with modest gains, while Mitsubishi Motor is trading flat.
Mitsubishi Paper is down 3.6 percent. CSK Corp., T&D Holding, Sumco, Advantest, Taiyo Yuden, Pacific Metals, SM Trust and Nisshin Steel are down 2 to 3 percent.
Sony Corp., Resona Holdings, Japan Tobacco, Daiwa Securities Group, Shionogi, Nippon Steel, Nomura Holdings and Nippon Sheet Glass are also down with sharp losses.
Shares of Tokyo Electric Power are up nearly 5 percent. Takashimaya, Ebara Corp., Taiheiyo Cement, Sumitomo Osaka, Nippon Electric Glass, J Front Retailing and Heiwa Real Estate are also trading firm.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the mid-80 yen range in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 80.68 to the U.S. dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan are trading notably lower. Malaysia and New Zealand are down with modest losses, while Shanghai is trading higher. Markets across the region ended mostly higher on Friday.
On Wall Street, stocks drifted lower on Friday with traders shrugging off relatively upbeat economic data amid a negative reaction to quarterly results from some major technology companies.
The major averages all moved sharply lower on the day, closing near their worst levels of the session. The Dow ended down 115.4 points or 1 percent at 11,934.6, the Nasdaq dropped by 33.9 points or 1.3 percent to 2,652.9 and the S&P 500 slid by about 15 points or 1.2 percent to 1,268.4.
Major European markets turned in a mixed performance on Friday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index gained 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 index and the German DAX index ended lower by 0.1 percent and 0.4 percent respectively.
Crude oil prices ended marginally higher on Friday. Light, sweet crude for August delivery ended up 14 cents at $91.16 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com