TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is declining on Tuesday, extending losses from the previous session following the mixed cues overnight from Wall Street and despite news that the Japanese government is set to approve a third round of stimulus worth 73.6 trillion yen, or $706 billion.
Worries about the surging coronavirus cases and its impact on the economic recovery weighed on the market. Investors also remained cautious as they monitored U.S. stimulus negotiations.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 116.38 points or 0.44 percent to 26,431.06, after touching a low of 26,327.08 in early trades. The Japanese market retreated on Monday after touching a more than 29-year high in early trades.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is down 0.2 percent and Fast Retailing is declining 0.7 percent. In the tech space, Advantest is rising more than 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is advancing more than 1 percent.
The major exporters are mostly lower a stronger yen. Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are losing almost 1 percent each, while Panasonic is down 0.2 percent. Canon is adding almost 1 percent.
Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 1 percent and Toyota is down 0.2 percent. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.1 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining 0.6 percent.
Dentsu International, the international arm of advertising agency Dentsu Group, said it will cut about 6,000 jobs as part of a major restructuring. Shares of Dentsu Group are down 0.6 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Sekisui House and Mitsui Mining & Smelting are rising more than 4 percent each, while M3 is higher by almost 4 percent. Rakuten and Takara Holdings are advancing more than 3 percent each.
Conversely, Suzuki Motor is losing more than 3 percent and Daiichi Sankyo is lower by almost 3 percent.
On the economic front, data showed that Japan's gross domestic product surged an annualized 22.9 percent in the third quarter of 2020. That beat expectations for an increase of 21.5 percent following the 28.8 percent plunge in the previous three months.
Japan had a current account surplus of 2,144.7 billion yen in October, up 15.7 percent on year. That exceeded expectations for a surplus of 2,126.3 billion yen following the surplus of 1,660.2 billion yen in September.
The average of household spending in Japan was up 1.9 percent on year in October, coming in at 283,508 yen. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 2.5 percent following the 10.2 percent plunge in September.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 104 yen-range on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed mixed on Monday as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves after the major averages reached record closing highs last Friday. Traders seemed to be waiting for further developments regarding a potential stimulus bill before making any substantial bets. A quiet day on the U.S. economic front also kept traders on the sidelines, although the Federal Reserve did release its consumer credit report later in the day.
While the Nasdaq rose 55.71 points or 0.5 percent to 12,519.95, the Dow fell 148.47 points or 0.5 percent to 30,069.79 and the S&P 500 dipped 7.16 points or 0.2 percent to 3,691.96.
The major European markets also ended mixed on Monday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index dipped by 0.2 percent and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.6 percent.
Crude oil prices retreated on Monday as rising Covid-19 cases prompted more lockdowns around the world, threatening a global economic recovery. WTI crude for January delivery fell $0.45 or 0.99 percent to $45.66 a barrel.
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