TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is declining on Thursday after rising to a two-month high in the previous session, following the modest gains overnight on Wall Street and as investors digested results of a survey that showed the manufacturing sector in Japan slipped into contraction in February. In addition, a stronger yen weighed on exporters' shares.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 71.10 points or 0.33 percent to 21,360.39, after falling to a low of 21,318.74 earlier. Japanese shares hit a nine-week high on Wednesday.
The major exporters are mostly lower on a stronger yen. Panasonic is down 0.6 percent, Canon is losing almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is declining more than 1 percent, while Sony is advancing almost 1 percent.
In the tech sector, Advantest is lower by more than 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is down 0.3 percent.
Among the major automakers, Toyota is losing 0.5 percent, while Honda is rising 2 percent. In the banking space, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is down 0.2 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is lower by more than 1 percent.
In the oil space, Inpex is lower by 0.4 percent, while Japan Petroleum is up 0.6 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Rakuten is rising more than 4 percent and Komatsu is higher by more than 3 percent. Japan Tobacco and Nissan Chemical are up more than 2 percent each.
On the flip side, IHI Corp. is losing almost 8 percent, Screen Holdings is lower by almost 4 percent and JGC Corp. is declining more than 3 percent.
On the economic front, the latest survey from Nikkei revealed that the manufacturing sector in Japan slipped into contraction in February, with a 32-month low manufacturing PMI score of 48.5. That's down from 50.3 in January, and it sinks beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 110 yen-range on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed modestly higher on Wednesday in choppy trading as traders digested the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting, which provided further insight into the central bank's decision to change the forward guidance language and indicate a patient approach to raising interest rates. Traders also seemed reluctant to make significant moves as they wait for developments regarding the latest round of trade talks between the U.S. and China.
The Dow rose 63.12 points or 0.2 percent to 25,954.44, the Nasdaq inched up 2.30 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 7,489.07 and the S&P 500 edged up 4.94 points or 0.2 percent to 2,784.70.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on Wednesday. While the German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both climbed by 0.7 percent.
Crude oil prices hit their highest this year, as surging U.S. output and concerns over slowing global growth overshadowed investor optimism over OPEC-led supply cuts as well as the U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela. WTI crude oil surged $0.83 cents or 1.5 percent to $56.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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