TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is losing on Wednesday and the yen strengthened against the dollar after U.S. stocks closed lower overnight as hopes for bigger stimulus checks to individuals faded.
The continued surge in coronavirus cases as well as the confirmation of new virus strains in Japan that were first detected in the UK and South Africa also weighed on the market.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 120.51 points or 0.44 percent to 27,447.64, after touching a low of 27,338.56. Japanese stocks closed at their highest level in over three decades on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is down 0.7 percent, while Fast Retailing is advancing more than 1 percent. In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is declining more than 1 percent and Advantest is down almost 1 percent.
The major exporters are lower on a stronger yen. Canon is losing almost 2 percent, while Sony and Mitsubishi Electric are lower by more than 1 percent each. Panasonic is down 0.6 percent.
Among automakers, Toyota is edging up 0.1 percent, while Honda is down almost 2 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining 0.5 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is lower by 0.3 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Takashimaya Co. is advancing almost 2 percent.
Conversely, JFE Holdings is losing more than 3 percent and GS Yuasa is lower by almost 3 percent. Seiko Epson, Hitachi Zosen, NSK and NTN Corp. are all declining more than 2 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid 103 yen-range on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks initially rose on Tuesday to new record intraday highs, but failed to sustain gains and closed lower on profit taking. The U.S. House of Representatives voted Monday to approve a measure increasing the size of the stimulus checks to $2,000 from $600. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ken., blocked an effort by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to unanimously approve the House bill.
The Dow dipped 68.30 points or 0.2 percent to 30,335.67, the Nasdaq fell 49.20 points or 0.4 percent to 12,850.22 and the S&P 500 slipped 8.32 points or 0.2 percent to 3,727.04.
The major European markets closed mixed on Tuesday. While the German DAX Index dipped by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index shot up by 1.6 percent following the long weekend.
Crude oil prices moved higher on Tuesday amid hopes energy demand will pick up in the event of the U.S. policymakers deciding to provide additional stimulus to boost economic growth. WTI crude oil futures for February rose $0.38 or about 0.8 percent at $48.00 a barrel.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX