TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is declining and the safe-haven yen strengthened on Wednesday following the lackluster cues overnight from Wall Street after a speech by U.S. President Donald Trump failed to provide details about the state of trade talks between the U.S. and China.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 190.98 points or 0.81 percent to 23,329.03, after touching a low of 23,327.60 earlier.
The major exporters are mixed on a stronger yen. Sony is advancing almost 1 percent and Panasonic is rising 0.2 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric is declining more than 1 percent and Canon down 0.3 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is rising 0.4 percent, while Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.1 percent.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is up 0.2 percent, while Fast Retailing is losing almost 2 percent.
Among auto stocks, Honda Motor is lower by 0.7 percent and Toyota Motor is down 0.2 percent.
Nissan Motor is declining more than 1 percent after reporting a more than 73 percent fall in profit for the first half of the year and lowering its full-year outlook.
In the oil sector, Inpex is losing more than 1 percent and Japan Petroleum is declining almost 1 percent after crude oil prices edged lower overnight.
Among the major gainers, Fujifilm Holdings is rising more than 6 percent, Taiheiyo Cement is higher by almost 3 percent and Isuzu Motors is advancing more than 2 percent.
On the flip side, Mitsui E&S Holdings is losing almost 5 percent, JFE Holdings is lower by more than 4 percent and Sumitomo Heavy Industries is declining almost 4 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 108 yen-range on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed little changed on Tuesday as traders initially seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of President Donald Trump's speech at the Economic Club of New York this afternoon. Activity remained light after Trump spoke, however, as he failed to provide details about the state of trade talks between the U.S. and China. Trump claimed the Chinese are 'dying to make a deal' and an agreement is 'close,' although investors had been hoping for more substantive comments from the president.
While the Nasdaq rose 21.81 points or 0.3 percent to 8,486.09 and the S&P 500 edged up 4.83 points or 0.2 percent to 3,091.84, the Dow ended the day unchanged at 27,691.49.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on Tuesday. While the German DAX Index climbed by 0.7 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.5 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.
Crude oil futures settled slightly lower on Tuesday, as worries about the outlook for energy demand and rising crude inventory levels in the U.S. continued to weigh on the commodity. WTI crude for December delivery edged down $0.06 to $56.80 a barrel.
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