TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is declining for the third straight day on Thursday on a stronger yen and following the mixed cues overnight from Wall Street amid worries about U.S.-China trade tensions.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 232.09 points or 1.07 percent to 21,370.50, after touching a low of 21,340.02 earlier. Japanese shares fell sharply to hit a five-week low on Wednesday.
The major exporters are mixed on a stronger safe-haven yen. Panasonic is adding 0.5 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is up 0.2 percent, while Sony is declining more than 1 percent and Canon is down 0.4 percent.
Among tech stocks, Advantest is up 0.2 percent and Tokyo Electron is rising 0.3 percent. China-related industrial machinery companies such as Komatsu and Fanuc are losing more than 3 percent and 2 percent, respectively.
In the auto space, Toyota is lower by more than 2 percent and Honda is losing 3 percent. Among the major banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is lower by almost 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is down more than 1 percent.
In the oil sector, Inpex is losing more than 1 percent and Japan Petroleum is lower by 0.5 percent despite crude oil prices rising overnight.
Among the other major gainers, Yahoo Japan is gaining almost 9 percent after SoftBank Corp. said Wednesday it will spend $4 billion to raise its stake in Yahoo Japan.
Fujifilm Holdings is rising almost 3 percent and Sumitomo Heavy Industries is up 2 percent.
On the flip side, Chiyoda Corp. and Rakuten are declining more than 6 percent, while IHI Corp. is declining more than 5 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 109 yen-range on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed mixed on Wednesday, reflecting uncertainty ahead of a crucial round of trade talks between the U.S. and China in the coming days. The markets had earlier benefited from optimism about the talks after White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters there are 'indications' the Chinese would like to strike a deal, reiterating a claim President Donald Trump made on Twitter.
While the Dow inched up 2.24 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 25,967.33, the Nasdaq fell 20.44 points or 0.3 percent to 7,943.32 and the S&P 500 dipped 4.63 points or 0.2 percent to 2,879.42.
The major European markets moved higher over the course of the session on Wednesday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index advanced by 0.7 percent.
Crude oil prices closed higher on Wednesday, rebounding from losses posted in the previous session, after official data showed an unexpected jump in crude inventories in the U.S. in the week ended May 3. WTI crude oil futures for June ended up $0.72 or 1.2 percent at $62.12 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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