TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is slightly lower on Wednesday after being in the green most of the morning, extending the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark Nikkei index staying above the 28,400 level, following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, on lingering concerns about the impact of the coronavirus Omicron variant on global economic recovery.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 17.01 points or 0.06 percent at 28,415.63, after touching a high of 28,525.83 and a low of 28,358.47 earlier. Japanese stocks closed notably lower on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining 2.5 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.6 percent and Toyota is gaining more than 3 percent.
In the tech space, Screen Holdings is edging up 0.5 percent, while Advantest is losing more than 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is down almost 1 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging up 0.5 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining almost 1 percent.
Among the major exporters, Panasonic is gaining more than 1 percent, Sony is adding almost 2 percent, Canon is edging up 0.1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is up almost 1 percent.
Among the other major losers, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is losing more than 5 percent, while Nippon Yusen K.K. and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines are declining almost 4 percent each.
Conversely, Shinsei Bank is surging more than 7 percent, while Toyota Tsusho and Denso are gaining almost 5 percent each. Tokyu Fudosan Holdings and Toppan are adding almost 4 percent each, while JFE Holdings is up more than 3 percent. Recruit Holdings, Japan Steel Works, Unitika, Yamaha Motor, Toho Zinc, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Eisai are advancing almost 3 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 113 yen-range on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks saw further downside during trading on Tuesday following the sharp pullback seen in the previous session. With the drop, the S&P 500 continued to give back ground after ending last Friday's trading at a record closing high.
The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day but remained in negative territory. The Dow dipped 106.77 points or 0.3 percent to 35,544.18, the Nasdaq tumbled 175.64 points or 1.1 percent to 15,237.64 and the S&P 500 slid 34.88 points or 0.8 percent to 4,634.09.
The major European markets also moved to the downside over the course of the session. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index fell 0.7 percent and the German DAX Index slumped 1.1 percent.
Crude oil futures dipped Tuesday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand due to renewed restrictions amid rising new cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended down by $0.56 or 0.8 percent at $70.73 a barrel.
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