TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is notably lower and the safe-haven yen strengthened on Wednesday following the negative cues overnight from Wall Street and a fall in U.S. Treasury yields amid worries about the economic impact of the U.S.-China trade war.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 284.48 points or 1.34 percent to 20,975.66 after falling to a low of 20,884.61 earlier. Japanese shares closed higher on Tuesday.
The major exporters are weak on a stronger yen. Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.1 percent and Canon is lower by 0.5 percent, while Panasonic and Sony are declining more than 1 percent each.
Index heavyweight Softbank Group is declining 0.2 percent, while Fanuc is down 0.6 percent and Fast Retailing is lower by almost 1 percent.
Among tech stocks, Advantest is losing more than 3 percent and Tokyo Electron is lower by more than 2 percent. In the auto space, Honda is declining almost 1 percent and Toyota is down 0.5 percent.
Among the major banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is down almost 2 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is declining more than 1 percent. In the oil sector, Inpex and Japan Petroluem are losing almost 1 percent each.
Among the other major gainers, Nippon Light Metal Holdings and Idemitsu Kosan Co. are advancing more than 1 percent each.
On the flip side, Cyberagent is losing more than 5 percent, while Kobe Steel and Screen Holdings are lower by almost 4 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 109 yen-range on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks pared early gains to close lower on Tuesday amid lingering concerns about the economic impact of the U.S.-China trade war. The trade war worries contributed to a slump in treasury yields, which in turn added to concerns about a potential recession. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note dropped to its lowest levels since September of 2017.
The Dow slumped 237.92 points or 0.9 percent to 25,347.77, the Nasdaq dropped 29.66 points or 0.4 percent to 7,607.35 and the S&P 500 slid 23.67 points or 0.8 percent to 2,802.39.
The major European markets also moved to the downside on Tuesday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both fell by 0.4 percent.
Crude oil futures edged higher on Tuesday amid prospects of tighter global supplies due to fall in Russia's oil production, OPEC-led output cuts and possible supply disruptions from Cushing, the main U.S. storage hub. WTI crude for July delivery rose $0.51 or 0.9 percent to $59.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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