TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is declining on Wednesday despite the overnight rally on Wall Street, while the safe-haven yen strengthened. Investor sentiment was dampened after the International Monetary Fund or IMF warned the global economy could see the worst recession since the Great Depression as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and the containment measures adopted to slow the outbreak.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is losing 69.24 points or 0.35 percent to 19,569.57, after touching a low of 19,465.95 in early trades. Japanese shares rose more than 3 percent on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank is rising more than 2 percent, while Fast Retailing is edging down 0.1 percent.
The major exporters are mixed on a stronger yen. Canon is adding 0.4 percent and Sony is edging up 0.1 percent, while Panasonic is losing 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is down 0.7 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is higher by almost 2 percent, while Tokyo Electron is down 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 2 percent and Toyota is declining more than 1 percent.
In the oil sector, Japan Petroleum is losing more than 5 percent and Inpex is lower by more than 3 percent after crude oil prices fell more than 10 percent overnight.
Among the major gainers, Recruit Holdings is rising more than 4 percent, while Fujitsu and Toho Co. are higher by almost 3 percent each.
On the flip side, Toyo Seikan is losing almost 5 percent, FamilyMart is lower by more than 5 percent and Hino Motors is declining almost 4 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 107 yen-range on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks rallied on Tuesday to the best closing levels in over a month as traders continued to express optimism about signs of a flattening of the coronavirus curve. In a press briefing on Monday, President Donald Trump defended his administration's response to the pandemic and indicated he is working on plans to re-open the country. Encouraging exports data out of China also helped ease fears of the pandemic resulting in a deep global recession.
The Nasdaq spiked 323.32 points or 4 percent to 8,515.74, while the Dow jumped 558.99 points or 2.4 percent to 23,949.76 and the S&P 500 surged up 84.43 points or 3.1 percent to 2,846.06.
The major European markets turned in a mixed performance on Tuesday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index shot up by 1.3 percent.
Crude oil prices plummeted on Tuesday as mounting concerns about a drop in energy demand due to the virus pandemic outweighed planned output cuts from OPEC and its allies. WTI crude for May ended down $2.30 or 10.3 percent, at $20.11 a barrel.
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