TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is declining on Friday following the mixed cues from Wall Street on weak retail sales data and a stronger yen weighed on exporters' shares.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 192.55 points or 0.91 percent to 20,947.16, after touching a low of 20,853.33 earlier. Japanese shares ended roughly flat on Thursday.
The major exporters are lower on a stronger yen. Canon is down 0.3 percent, Sony is down 0.4 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is declining almost 1 percent and Panasonic is losing more than 1 percent.
In the tech sector, Advantest is rising 1 percent, while Tokyo Electron is down 0.6 percent.
Among the major automakers, Toyota is edging down 0.1 percent and Honda is lower by almost 2 percent. In the banking space, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are declining more than 1 percent each.
In the oil space, Inpex is adding 0.4 percent and Japan Petroleum is higher by more than 1 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Showa Shell Sekiyu is rising more than 3 percent, DIC Corp. and Amada Holdings are higher by more than 2 percent each.
On the flip side, Trend Micro is losing more than 9 percent, Kubota Corp. is declining more than 8 percent and Kirin Holdings is lower by more than 7 percent following weak earnings results for the full year.
Shares of Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan are losing almost 10 percent after the company said Thursday it will seek about 700 employees for voluntary retirement and also projected a 29 percent decline in fiscal 2019 net profit.
On the economic front, Japan will provide final December figures for industrial production today.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 110 yen-range on Friday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed mixed on Thursday after showing initial weakness as a report from the Commerce Department unexpectedly showed a substantial decrease in retail sales in December, increasing the appeal of safe havens like bonds. Selling pressure waned over the course of the morning, as traders continued to express optimism about U.S.-China trade talks and avoiding another government shutdown.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day up 6.58 points or 0.1 percent to 7,426.95, while the Dow dropped 103.88 points 0.4 percent to 25,439.39 and the S&P 500 fell 7.30 points or 0.3 percent to 2,745.73.
The major European markets also ended mixed on Thursday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index fell by 0.7 percent.
Crude oil prices regained initial lost ground on Thursday and eventually settled on a positive note, amid optimism the ongoing U.S-China trade discussions might result in the two countries moving closer to reaching a trade deal. WTI crude for March rose $0.51 or about 1 percent at $54.41 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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