The Japanese stock market opened weak on Tuesday following a negative lead from Wall Street, where stocks declined sharply overnight amid doubts about the sustainability of economic recovery. A stronger yen is also contributing to the weakness.
Automobile, banking, non-ferrous metals, machinery and chemicals stocks are mostly in negative territory. Foods, construction and retail stocks are also trading weak.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index is down 236.3 points or 2.5% at 9,913.
Just seven stocks out of the 225 stock strong Nikkei index are up in positive territory at present. Among them, All Nippon Airways and Shiseido Co. are up with modest gains, and the rest are up just marginally.
Mitsubishi Rayon, Sharp Corp., Showa Denko KK, Mitsubishi Chemicals, Citizen Holdings, UBE Industries, MS&AD Insurance, NTT Data Corp., Advantest Corp., Mitsubishi Materials, Casio Computer, CSK Holdings and Credit Saison are down 3%-4%.
Automobile stocks Suzuki Motor, Honda Motor, Toyota Motor and Mitsubishi Motor are trading weak.
Bank stocks Sumitomo Trust & Banking, Bank of Yokohama, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Trust & Banking are trading notably lower.
On the economic front, industrial production in Japan rose modestly in July. Japan's Ministry of Finance reported that its preliminary read on industrial production showed an increase of 0.3% in July, the first increase in three months. For the full year to July, industrial production was up 14.8%. Through June 2010, industrial production increased a revised 17.3%. Both the on-month and on-year increases were better than predicted by most economic analysts.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded at mid 84 yen level in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 84.51 to the U.S. dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Taiwan and South Korea are down with notable losses. Australia, Shanghai, New Zealand and Singapore are also trading weak. Markets across the region had ended on the upside on Monday.
On Wall Street, stocks suffered a setback on Monday, as continued uncertainty regarding the direction of the economy ahead of this week's August employment report prompted risk aversion. The major averages offset a majority of Friday's rally, pulling back down towards last week's more than one-month closing lows.
The Dow plunged by 140.9 points or 1.4% to 10,009.7, the Nasdaq declined by 33.7 points or 1.6% to 2,120 and the S&P 500 lost 15.7 points or 1.5% to end at 1,048.9.
Major European markets posted moderate losses on Monday. The French CAC 40 index and the German DAX index lost 0.6% and 0.7% respectively, while the U.K. market was closed for the day.
Crude oil prices drifted lower after three successive days of gains, as the dollar gained ground and investors chose to wait for more clues about economic conditions. Light, sweet crude for October delivery eased US$0.47 to US$74.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.