TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market opened notably lower on Wednesday and the safe-haven yen strengthened following the mostly negative cues overnight from Wall Street and as investors digested weak local economic data.
However, the market has pared earlier losses and is now modestly lower, with investors remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement due later today.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 32.44 points or 0.14 percent to 23,058.59, after touching a low of 22,900.30 in early trades. Japanese shares fell on Tuesday after six days of gains.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is adding 0.3 percent, while Fast Retailing is declining almost 1 percent.
The major exporters are mostly lower on a stronger yen. Mitsubishi Electric is declining more than 1 percent, Panasonic is lower by almost 1 percent and Canon is edging down 0.1 percent, while Sony is adding 0.5 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is rising almost 3 percent and Tokyo Electron is advancing more than 2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is adding 0.2 percent, while Honda Motor is edging down 0.1 percent.
In the oil sector, Inpex is declining more than 2 percent and Japan Petroleum is down more than 1 percent even as crude oil prices rose overnight.
Among the major gainers, Takara Holdings is rising more than 4 percent, while M3 and Yamato Holdings are higher by more than 3 percent each.
On the flip side, Obayashi Corp. is losing more than 4 percent and Toho Zinc is lower by almost 4 percent. Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Shimizu Corp., Mitsui Mining & Smelting and Nippon Steel are all down more than 3 percent each.
In economic news, the value of core machine orders in Japan tumbled a seasonally adjusted 12.0 percent on month in April, standing at 752.6 billion yen. That missed estimates for a fall of 8.6 percent following the 0.4 percent drop in March.
Producer prices in Japan were down 0.4 percent on month in May, missing expectations for a drop of 0.3 percent following the 1.5 percent slide in April.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 107 yen-range on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed mostly lower on Tuesday, partly reflecting profit taking, as traders cashed in on the strong gains posted in recent sessions. Traders also seemed reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The Fed is not expected to announce any significant policy changes, although traders are still likely to pay close attention to the central bank's assessment of the economic outlook.
The Nasdaq pulled back off its best levels after topping 10,000 for the first time but still closed up 29.01 points or 0.3 percent at 9,953.75. Meanwhile, the Dow slumped 300.14 points or 1.1 percent to 27,272.30 and the S&P 500 slid 25.21 points or 0.8 percent at 3,207.18.
The major European markets all moved sharply lower on Tuesday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index plunged by 2.1 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both tumbled by 1.6 percent.
Crude oil prices rose on Tuesday as optimism about production cuts from leading crude producers outweighed some concerns about a jump in new coronavirus infections in central America and some parts across the globe. WTI crude oil for July delivery climbed $0.75 to $38.94 a barrel.
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