TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market opened higher on Tuesday, but slipped into negative territory amid worries about global economic growth and on a stronger safe-haven yen.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 89.01 points or 0.44 percent to 20,321.87, after touching a high of 20,464.57 in early trades. Japanese shares extended sharp losses from the previous session on Monday.
The major exporters are mixed. Sony is declining almost 1 percent and Canon is down 0.6 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric is rising more than 2 percent and Panasonic is edging up 0.1 percent.
Index heavyweight Softbank Group is declining more than 2 percent and Fast Retailing is lower by 0.2 percent, while Fanuc is advancing more than 1 percent.
In the auto space, Toyota Motor is declining 1 percent, while Honda Motor is up almost 1 percent. Among tech stocks, Tokyo Electron is advancing more than 1 percent, while Advantest is down 0.2 percent.
Among the major banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding 0.6 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is lower by 0.3 percent. In the oil sector, Inpex is higher by more than 1 percent and Japan Petroluem is rising more than 3 percent.
Among the major gainers, Mitsui E&S Holdings is rising almost 5 percent, JGC Corp. is gaining 4 percent and Chiyoda Corp. is higher by almost 4 percent.
On the flip side, Cyberagent is losing more than 6 percent, Shizuoka Bank is declining more than 4 percent and Keio Corp. is lower by almost 4 percent.
In economic news, Japan will see May figures for monetary base today.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 107 yen-range on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, technology stocks moved sharply lower on Monday following reports of antitrust investigations involving several big-name companies, leading to a steep drop by the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Trade concerns also continued to weigh on the markets after an official document from the Chinese government blamed the U.S. for the escalating trade dispute between the world's two largest economies.
The Nasdaq plunged 120.13 points or 1.6 percent to 7,333.02, ending the session at its lowest closing level in nearly four months. The S&P 500 also fell 7.61 points or 0.3 percent to 2,744.45, while the Dow inched up 4.74 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 24,819.78.
The major European markets turned positive on Monday after seeing early weakness. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.6 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.
Crude oil futures ended lower on Monday, extending losses to a fourth straight session amid continued worries about energy demand due to fears of global economic slowdown. WTI crude oil futures for July ended down $0.25 or 0.5 percent at $53.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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