TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is lower on Wednesday with the benchmark Nikkei 225 falling below the 30,000 level as gains in real estate stocks were offset by among technology stocks. However, optimism on economic recovery after the pandemic prompted fresh buying in value and cyclical stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is declining 222.58 points or 0.74 percent to 29,928.25, after touching a low of 29,846.17 in early trades.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is declining more than 2 percent while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is up 0.4 percent. Among automakers, Honda is adding almost 1 percent, while Toyota is down 0.2 percent.
In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is lower by more than 2 percent and Advantest is down nearly 3 percent. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is adding 1.2 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining 1.4 percent.
Among major exporters, Panasonic is declining almost 1 percent, Sony is losing nearly 3 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is down more than 1 percent, while Canon is edging up 0.5 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Yokohama Rubber is gaining almost 9 percent, Pacific Metals is adding nearly 8 percent, Sumitomo Metal Mining is up over 7 percent and Shinsei Bank is gaining 6 percent, while Mitsui Mining and Smelting, Fujikura, ANA Holdings, Mitsui OSKLines and DOWA are rising more than 5 percent each.
Conversely, Olympus is losing nearly 5 percent, while Konica Minolta and Terumo are lower by more than 4 percent each and Daikin Industries in down nearly 4 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 105 yen-range on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a substantial recovery over the course of the trading day on Tuesday after moving sharply lower early in the session. The major averages climbed well off their early lows, with the Dow and the S&P 500 reaching positive territory.
The Dow plunged by more than 360 points in early trading but ended the day up 15.66 points or 0.1 percent at 31,537.35. The S&P 500 also inched up 4.87 points or 0.1 percent to 3,881.37 after tumbling by as much as 71 points. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq finished the session down 67.85 points or 0.5 percent at 13,465.20 but was well off the nearly one-month intraday low set in early trading.
The major European markets also finished the day mixed. While the German DAX Index fell by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both inched up by 0.2 percent.
Crude oil prices ended slightly lower on Tuesday after surging in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down $0.03 at $61.67 a barrel.
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