The Japanese stock market experienced a significant downturn on Wednesday, relinquishing the advancements made over the last three trading sessions. This predominantly occurred due to overall global market trends, which have been largely negative. The Nikkei 225 Index, which recently hit a 34-year high, fell around the 37,700 mark. Despite this, losses incurred by major indices and exporters were somewhat counteracted by increased gains in the technology sector.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index saw a dip of 251.25 points or 0.66 percent to stand at 37,712.72, after an earlier low at 37,639.12. However, the Japanese stocks had finished on a high note on Tuesday.
In the market, heavyweight SoftBank Group saw losses over 2 percent while Fast Retailing, the operator of Uniqlo retail stores, gained more than 1 percent. Amid the automakers, both Honda and Toyota experienced a dip of over 2 percent.
In contrast, technology sector showed a brighter side with Advantest, Tokyo Electron, and Screen Holdings marking gains of 0.5 percent, nearly 1 percent, and over 4 percent, respectively. On the banking field, both Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial marginally declined by 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, whereas Sumitomo Mitsui Financial saw a small surge of 0.3 percent.
Export giants like Sony, Mitsubishi Electric, and Canon each lost nearly 2 percent, while Panasonic saw a decline of over 3 percent. Other significant losses were marked by Mercari, Shiseido, and SMC plummeting by 11.5 percent, nearly 6 percent, and almost 5 percent respectively while Dowa Holdings and Mazda Motor dropped by over 4 percent each. Other major companies like Hitachi Zosen, Tokai Carbon, Pacific Metals, Nikon, Nippon Paper Industries, Asahi Group, Japan Tobacco, Nippon Steel, Taiyo Yuden, and Yamaha all saw a near decline of 4 percent each.
On the other hand, Citizen Watch surged by almost 6 percent, accompanied by Sapporo Holdings and Idemitsu Kosan advancing more than 5 and nearly 5 percent, respectively.
In the forex market, the U.S. dollar traded stronger in the higher 150 yen-range on Wednesday.
Wall Street also showed signs of regression as stocks significantly lowered during Tuesday's trading after Monday's close-to-even performance. The Dow decidedly retreated from its record high of the previous day. The Dow fell by 524.63 points or 1.4 percent to 38,272.75; the Nasdaq declined 286.95 points or 1.8 percent to 15,655.60; and the S&P 500 suffered a slump of 68.67 points or 1.4 percent, closing at 4,953.17.
Major European markets mirrored this downward trend, with Germany's DAX Index falling by 0.9 percent while France's CAC 40 Index and the UK's FTSE 100 Index each slid by 0.8 percent.
Crude oil prices, however, rose owing to concerns about supply, driven by ongoing tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March increased $0.95 or 1.25 percent and are now valued at $77.87 a barrel, marking the seventh consecutive session of growth.
