Japanese Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading modestly lower on Tuesday, reversing some of the gains in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from European markets and lack of cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei 225 falling to near the 66,300 level, with weakness in automakers and exporter stocks partially offset by gains in index heavyweights, financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 98.48 points or 0.15 percent at 66,301.36, after hitting a low of 65,763.11 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is jumping more than 6 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 3 percent and Toyota is declining almost 3 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 2 percent, Screen Holdings is advancing almost 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is adding almost 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are gaining almost 1 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.3 percent.

The major exporters are mostly lower. Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are declining more than 2 percent each, while Panasonic is slipping more than 3 percent and Canon is down more than 1 percent

Among the other major losers, Taiyo Yuden, Mercari, JTEKT and Alps Alpine are tumbling almost 5 percent each, while Murata Manufacturing, Yamaha Motor and SHIFT are declining more than 4 percent each. Mazda Motor is declining almost 4 percent, while NTN, Nitto Denko, Nissan Motor and TDK are losing more than 3 percent each. Isuzu Motors is down almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Nitori Holdings is surging almost 5 percent and Denka is gaining almost 3 percent.

In economic news, Japan's economy expanded at an annualized rate of 1.4 percent in the second quarter of2026, revised up from the preliminary reading and market estimates of 1.1 percent. It marked the third consecutive quarter of growth. Japan's GDP grew 0.4 percent on quarter in the second quarter of 2026, slightly higher than flash data of 0.3 percent and in line with market forecasts. It was the third straight quarter of expansion.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 153 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, the markets were closed for Labor Day on Monday after closing lower on Friday.

The major European markets turned in a mixed performance on Monday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged down 0.08 percent and Germany's DAX closed 0.15 percent down. France's CAC 40 gained 0.33 percent.