Japanese Market experiences significant decline
On Monday, the Japanese stock market is trading significantly lower, continuing the downward trend seen over the past three sessions. Despite positive signals from Wall Street on Friday, the Nikkei 225 fell below 37,600, with a mixed performance across various sectors.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index dropped by 180.41 points, or 0.48%, to 37,573.31, after briefly touching a low of 37,500.11 earlier in the day. Japanese stocks closed slightly lower on Friday.
Market giants are leading the movement: SoftBank Group lost over 1%, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing fell by nearly 1%. In the automotive sector, Honda climbed by almost 1% and Toyota increased by close to 2%.
In the technology arena, Advantest dropped by nearly 1%, whereas Tokyo Electron gained close to 2% and Screen Holdings increased by about 0.4%.
Within the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial edged up by 0.5%, but both Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial declined by approximately 0.4% each.
Major exporters showed mixed results: Panasonic and Mitsubishi Electric each added about 0.4%, while Sony and Canon fell between 0.3% and 0.4%.
Other significant decliners include NEXON, Dentsu Group, Idemitsu Kosan, and Taiyo Yuden, each dropping nearly 3%. On the other hand, Daiichi Sankyo surged more than 5%, Konica Minolta rose almost 5%, and Mitsubishi Estate added nearly 4%. Sapporo Holdings and Resonac Holdings both climbed more than 3%, while Suzuki Motor, Rakuten Group, Kyowa Kirin, and Subaru each increased by about 3%.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the higher 144-yen range on Monday.
On Wall Street, the trading session on Friday eventually saw most stocks moving higher. After initial uncertainty, the major averages climbed into positive territory following two mixed sessions. By the end of the day, the Dow Jones advanced 331.99 points (0.8%) to 42,654.74, the S&P 500 increased by 41.45 points (0.7%) to 5,958.38, and the Nasdaq went up by 98.78 points (0.5%) to 19,211.10.
European markets also moved higher during the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.6%, while France's CAC 40 Index and Germany's DAX Index increased by 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively.
Crude oil prices jumped strongly on Friday amid optimistic views on U.S. trade policies. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery increased by $0.87, or 1.4%, to $62.49 per barrel, with the weekly price rising by 2.4%.