TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is losing on Thursday after U.S. stocks closed sharply lower amid worries about the global economic recovery due to surging coronavirus cases and on uncertainty about new U.S. fiscal stimulus. Investors also turned cautious as they digested minutes of the Bank of Japan's July monetary policy meeting.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 163.42 points or 0.70 percent to 23,183.07, after touching a low of 23,096.56 in early trades. Japanese shares ended little changed with a negative bias on Wednesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 3 percent and Fast Retailing is down 0.3 percent.
The major exporters are lower despite a weaker yen. Panasonic and Mitsubishi Electric are declining more than 1 percent each, while Canon is lower by 0.4 percent and Sony is edging down 0.1 percent.
In the financial sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing almost 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is down 0.4 percent.
Among automakers, Honda is lower by almost 3 percent and Toyota is declining more than 1 percent. In the oil sector, Japan Petroleum is sliding more than 2 percent and Inpex is down more than 1 percent.
In the tech sector, Tokyo Electron is rising more than 2 percent, while Advantest is down 0.2 percent.
Among the major decliners, Toho Zinc is tumbling more than 5 percent and Japan Steel Works is losing almost 5 percent. Nippon Sheet Glass, JFE Holdings and Sumitomo Metal Mining are all lower by more than 4 percent each.
In economic news, members of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy board said that the economy had suffered a severe downturn due to Covid-19, although it was starting to see signs of recovery, minutes from the bank's meeting on July 14-15 revealed on Thursday.
The members added that the bank is likely to maintain its accommodative stance indefinitely, or at least until the 2 percent price target is achieved.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 105 yen-range on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed sharply lower on Wednesday, reflecting renewed weakness among technology stocks. Concerns about surging coronavirus cases in certain parts of the world may also have weighed on the markets even as President Donald Trump indicated the U.S. would not follow the U.K.'s lead and implement a second round of lockdowns.
The Dow tumbled 525.05 points or 1.9 percent to 26,763.13, the Nasdaq plummeted 330.65 points or 3 percent to 10,632.99 and the S&P 500 plunged 78.65 points or 2.4 percent to 3,236.92.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on Wednesday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index surged up by 1.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.6 percent and the German DAX Index rose by 0.4 percent.
Crude oil futures settled modestly higher on Wednesday, supported by data showing a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. WTI crude for November ended higher by $0.13 or about 0.3 percent at $39.93 a barrel.
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