TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is notably lower on Monday, its first trading day of the New Year, and the safe-haven yen strengthened following the weak cues from Wall Street Friday amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran after an airstrike by the U.S. last week killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 446.29 points or 1.89 percent to 23,210.33, after falling to a low of 23,208.30 earlier. The Japanese market was closed since last Tuesday for the New Year holidays.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group Corp. is declining more than 2 percent and Fast Retailing is losing almost 3 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are lower by more than 1 percent each.
The major exporters are lower on a stronger yen. Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic are losing more than 1 percent each, while Canon is lower by almost 1 percent and Sony is down 0.3 percent.
Among auto stocks, Honda Motor is falling almost 3 percent and Toyota Motor is declining 2 percent.
In the oil sector, Japan Petroleum and Inpex are rising more than 2 percent each after crude oil prices rose to a seven-month high on Friday.
Among the other major gainers, J Front Retailing is rising more than 3 percent, JXTG Holdings is higher by almost 3 percent and Idemitsu Kosan is advancing almost 2 percent.
On the flip side, Nippon Light Metal and Mitsui OSK Lines are losing more than 4 percent each, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is lower by 4 percent and Unitika is declining almost 4 percent.
Fuji Xerox, a subsidiary of Fujifilm Holdings, said it is changing its corporate name to Fujifilm Business Innovation Corp. as of April 1, 2021. The company's affiliates as well as sales companies in and outside Japan will also change their names on April 1, 2021, with their new names to be announced at a later date. Shares of Fujifilm Holdings are lower by more than 1 percent.
On the economic front, the latest survey from Nikkei revealed that the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to contract in December, and at a faster rate, with a manufacturing PMI score of 48.4. That's down from 48.9 in November and it moves further beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. Japan will also see December data for vehicle sales today.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 108 yen-range on Monday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed notably lower on Friday amid rising geopolitical tensions following news a U.S. airstrike killed Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani. Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said there would be 'revenge' for Soleimani's death, while President Donald Trump cryptically tweeted, 'Iran never won a war, but never lost a negotiation!' Adding to the negative sentiment on Wall Street, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing U.S. manufacturing activity unexpectedly contracted at a faster rate in the month of December.
The Dow tumbled 233.92 points or 0.8 percent to 28,634.88, the Nasdaq slumped 71.42 points or 0.8 percent to 9,020.77 and the S&P 500 fell 23.00 points or 0.7 percent to 3,234.85.
The major European markets also finished mixed on Friday. The German DAX Index tumbled by 1.3 percent, while the French CAC 40 Index closed just above the unchanged line and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent.
Crude oil prices rose sharply on Friday and settled at a seven-month high amid an escalation in tensions in the Middle East after an airstrike by the U.S. killed Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani. WTI crude for February delivery jumped $1.87 or about 3.1 percent to $63.05 a barrel.
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