TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market, which resumed trading on Tuesday after a ten-day holiday, is notably lower while the safe-haven yen strengthened following the negative cues overnight from Wall Street on rising U.S.-China trade tensions.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 224.25 points or 1.01 percent to 22,034.48, after touching a low of 21,965.60 earlier.
The major exporters are mostly lower on a stronger yen. Mitsubishi Electric is losing more than 4 percent, Canon is declining almost 1 percent and Panasonic is down 0.5 percent, while Sony is gaining almost 6 percent.
Among tech stocks, Advantest is losing 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is declining more than 1 percent. Komatsu and Fanuc, industrial machinery companies with significant exposure to China, are losing more than 9 percent and 2 percent, respectively.
In the auto space, Toyota is down more than 1 percent and Honda is declining almost 1 percent. Among the major banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is lower by 1 more than 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is down 0.2 percent.
In the oil sector, Japan Petroleum is lower by more than 3 percent and Inpex is losing almost 3 percent despite an increase in crude oil prices overnight.
Among the other major gainers, Daiichi Sankyo is rising 5 percent, NEC Corp. is higher by more than 4 percent and Hitachi is gaining more than 3 percent.
On the flip side, Taiyo Yuden is losing more than 14 percent, while Chiyoda Corp. and Toto Ltd. are lower by 9 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 110 yen-range on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed lower on Monday, but well off their worst levels. An initial sell-off came after President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on all Chinese imports in a series of posts on Twitter on Sunday. Selling pressure waned shortly after the start of trading, however, as analysts described the tweets from Trump as a negotiating tactic. Indications the Chinese delegation still plans to travel to Washington later this week for another round of trade talks also offset the negative sentiment.
After falling by more than 470 points, the Dow ended the day down 66.47 points or 0.3 percent at 26,438.48. The Nasdaq slid 40.71 points or 0.5 percent to 8,123.29 and the S&P 500 fell 13.17 points or 0.5 percent to 2,932.47.
The European markets also showed significant moves to the downside on Monday, although the U.K. markets were closed. The French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index slumped by 1.2 percent and 1 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices showed a significant turnaround over the course of the trading session on Monday, climbing firmly into positive territory after seeing initial weakness. WTI crude for June delivery rose $0.31 to $62.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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