The Japanese market is trading lower on Wednesday with investors indulging in fairly heavy selling at several counters following weak trade data and a downgrade of the country's foreign currency rating by Fitch Ratings. The Greek Prime Minister's remark that Greece may leave the euro zone is also contributing to the market weakness.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which declined to around 8,620, is currently trading at 8,636.5, down 92.8 points or 1.1 percent from its previous close.
TDK Corp, Tokyo Electric Power Nippon Electric Glass Tokyo Dome, Heiwa Real Estate and Aozora Bank are trading lower by 3 to 4.5 percent.
Showa Denko KK, Fast Retailing, Nissan Chemical Industries, Mitsumi Electric, Mitsubishi Estate, Shinsei Bank, Credit Saison and Japan Steel Work are all down 2 to 3 percent.
Olympus, Mizuho Financial, Mitsubishi Materials, Pacific Metals, Toho Zinc, Mitsubishi Motors, Softbank and Trend Micro are also trading notably lower.
Among the gainers on the Nikkei index, Sharp Corp and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha are trading nearly 3 percent up. Japan Tobacco is gaining about 2.5 percent. Shares of JGC Corp are up nearly 2 percent on reports the company will invest around 30 billion yen in an Indonesia coal plant.
Nippon Yusen KK, Mitsubishi Paper Mills, Nippon Light Metal, Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding, Chiyoda and Mitsui OSK Lines are among the other notable gainers.
In economic news, Japan saw a merchandise trade deficit of 520.27 billion yen in April, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday. That missed forecasts for a shortfall of 470.8 billion yen following the downwardly revised deficit of 84.5 billion yen in March.
Exports were up 7.9 percent on year, below expectations for an increase of 11.8 percent following the 5.9 percent increase in the previous month, while imports added an annual 8.0 percent versus forecasts for a gain of 10.1 percent but down from the revised 10.6 percent a month earlier.
The adjusted trade deficit came in at 480.2 billion yen, topping forecasts for a shortfall of 617.2 billion yen following the revised 616.6 billion yen deficit in March.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded around 80 yen in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 79.90 to the dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan are trading notably lower with their benchmark indices losing 1.2 to 1.8 percent. Shanghai, Malaysia and New Zealand are down with modest losses. Markets across the region ended notably higher on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks ended flat on Tuesday after trading with a positive bias for a major part of the session. While the Nasdaq dipped 8.1 points or 0.3 percent to 2,839.1 and the Dow edged down 1.7 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 12,502.8, the S&P 500 crept up 0.6 points or 0.1 percent to 1,316.6.
Major European markets ended notably higher on Tuesday. While the German DAX index moved up 1.7 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index and the French CAC 40 index both ended stronger by 1.9 percent.
U.S. crude oil futures drifted lower on Tuesday, due largely to demand growth concerns and a strong dollar. Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for June delivery, dropped $0.91 or 1.0 percent to close at $91.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com