Japan Stocks fall on soft offshore lead, strong yen

Headline shares of the Japan share market declined on Thursday, 09 August 2018, as investors risk sentiments were subdued on following the mixed cues overnight from Wall Street amid tit-for-tat trade tariffs by the U.S. and China and the U.S. new sanctions on Russia. Meanwhile, yen appreciation against greenback also fuelled selloff. Among TSE33 issues, 26 issues declined, while 7 issues inclined, with shares of Oil & Coal Products, Nonferrous Metals, Construction, Transportation Equipment, Securities & Commodities Futures, and Mining issues being notable losers, while Chemicals, Fishery, Agriculture & Forestry, and Air Transportation issues were notable gainers. Around afternoon, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.15%, or 35 points, to 22,609.31. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 0.23%, or 4.03 points, to 1,740.68.

Investors risk sentiments were subdued amid escalating U.S.-China trade dispute raised concerns about the outlook for global economic growth. China said it will impose 25% tariffs on an additional $16 billion worth of imports from the U.S. from Aug. 23, matching Washington's latest move in the trade war.

Shares of export-related companies declined, hit by yen appreciation against greenback. Mitsubishi Electric, Panasonic, Canon, Honda, and Mazda declined in a range of 0.1-1%. Suzuki Corp lost more than 5% amid a growing list of compliance scandals in the Japanese auto industry.

Shares of energy sector declined, as crude oil prices declined sharply on Wednesday as the escalating U.S.-China trade dispute raised concerns about the outlook for global economic growth and demand for oil. WTI crude for September fell $2.23 or 3.2% to close at $66.94 a barrel, a seven-week low. Among oil stocks, Inpex and Japan Petroleum declined in a range of 0.5-9%.

ECONOMIC NEWS: The Cabinet Office said that the total number of core machine orders in Japan tumbled a seasonally adjusted 8.8% on month in June, worth 827.6 billion yen, after sliding 3.7% in May 2018.

The Bank of Japan said that the M2 money stock in Japan was up 3% to1,007.5 trillion yen in July, which would have been unchanged from the June reading. The M3 money stock advanced an annual 2.6% to 1,338.6 trillion yen. That was unchanged from the previous month.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Japanese yen appreciated to upper 111 yen zone against U.S. dollar on Wednesday.

OFFSHORE MARKET NEWS, US stock market closed softer on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 45.16 points, or 0.18% at 25,583.75 points, while the S&P500 was down 0.75 points or 0.03% at 2,857.7 points. The tech-heavy NASDAQ index was up 4.66 points or 0.06% at 7,888.3 points.

The major European markets ended mixed on Wednesday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.8%, while the German DAX Index dipped by 0.1% and the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.4%.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News