Japanese Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading modestly lower on Tuesday, extending the slight losses in the previous session, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 66,100 level, with weakness in index heavyweights and technology stocks partially offset by gains in automakers and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 212.53 points or 0.32 percent at 66,099.40, after hitting a low of 65,576.61 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is declining almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 2 percent and Toyota is adding more than 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings are losing more than 2 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is declining almost 3 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each.

The major exporters are mostly lower. Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are edging down 0.2 percent each, while Panasonic is losing almost 1 percent. Canon is gaining almost 1 percent

Among the other major losers, Sumco is tumbling almost 6 percent, while Furukawa Electric, Lasertec and Fujikura are declining almost 4 percent each. Renesas Electronics is losing more than 3 percent and Toto is down almost 3 percent.

Conversely, JFE Holdings is surging almost 5 percent, while Nippon Steel, Sumitomo Chemical and Tokyo Electric Power are advancing more than 4 percent each. Kansai Electric Power and Mitsubishi Materials are gaining almost 4 percent each, while ENEOS Holdings is adding more than 3 percent, while Nissan Motor, Chubu Electric Power, Alps Alpine and Mitsubishi Chemical Group are up almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to expand in August, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Tuesday with a manufacturing PMI score of 54.9. That's up from 54.5 in July, and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. This marks the eighth consecutive month of expansion in factory activity.

Meanwhile, Japanese companies' spending on plant and equipment rose 1.6 percent on year in the second quarter of 2026, rebounding from a flat reading in the prior period and comfortably exceeding market expectations of 0.2 percent. In contrast, manufacturing investment remained weak, falling 3.7 percent, after a 0.4 percent decline in the first quarter.

Overall, the data suggest corporate investment gained momentum in the second quarter, although manufacturing remained constrained by softer capital spending in several key industries.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 159 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower during trading on Monday, extending the pullback seen over the course of last Friday's session. The major averages regained some ground in the latter part of the trading day but still closed in negative territory.

The Dow slid 374.09 points or 0.7 percent to 53,185.90, while the S&P 500 fell 25.62 points or 0.3 percent to 7,686.14. The tech-heavy Nasdaq posted a more modest loss, edging down 31.53 points or 0.1 percent to 26,370.89.

The major European markets also moved mostly lower on the day, with the U.K. markets closed for a bank holiday. While the German DAX Index slumped 1.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index slid 0.8 percent.

Crude oil prices jumped on Monday as the U.S. recommenced attacks on Iran, stoking concerns of a broader re-escalation in the gulf. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $2.24 or 2.69 percent at $85.64 per barrel.