(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market pared initial gains and was trading lower on Thursday, led by tech stocks. Financial and automaker stocks were trading mixed. Oil-related stocks advanced on the back of higher crude oil prices.

At 9.15 P.M. ET, the benchmark Nikkei Index was declining 87.47 points or 0.68% to 12,764.22, while the broader Topix Index of all First Section Issues was losing 8.00 points to 1,225.37.

The Japanese market closed lower for the second consecutive trading session on Wednesday. The Nikkei 225 index fell 13.36 points or 0.1% to finish at 12,851.69 and the Topix index closed down 2.17 points or 0.2% at 1,233.37.

U.S. stocks ended Wednesday’s session with notable gains, as investors looked for bargains following the sharp losses posted in the previous two sessions. Positive quarterly results from Hewlett-Packard contributed to the strength, although weakness in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac weighed on the markets.

With traders digesting a mixed report on oil inventories, the price of oil saw considerable volatility over the course of the trading session on Wednesday before ending the day modestly above the unchanged line. Crude for September delivery closed up $0.45 at $114.98 a barrel, after falling to a low of $112.61 a barrel following the release of the U.S. inventory report.

On the economic front, shortly before the market opened, the Ministry of Finance said that Japan’s merchandise trade balance plummeted 86.6% in July to 91.1 billion yen. That was the fifth straight month of decline, coming in well short of analyst expectations of 235 billion yen, and was also less than the revised 121.9 billion yen surplus in June. A fall in trade with the United States was the big factor, dropping 19% on year to 600.2 billion yen. The unadjusted merchandise trade balance was 172.4 billion yen in July, less than the 351 billion yen forecast and the revised 131.3 billion yen surplus in the previous month.

The Ministry of Finance also said that foreign residents became net buyers of Japan stocks last week, reversing their recent course. Foreigners purchased a net 43.8 billion yen worth of Japan equities for the week ending August 10 and were buyers of a net 504.6 billion yen worth of Japan bonds and notes for the third straight week last week.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar was trading in the upper 109-yen range on Thursday. In early trades, the dollar was quoted in a range of 109.69-109.72 yen, down 0.43 yen from Wednesday’s close of 110.12-110.13 yen in Tokyo.

Tech stocks were trading weak. Advantest declined 1.08%, Kyocera lost 1.42%, Fanuc gave away 0.83%, Matsushita Electrical Industrial eased 0.67%, NEC slipped 1.39% and Fujitsu dipped 1.57%.

Among the big banks, Mizuho Financial added 0.43% and Resona Holdings advanced 0.38%, while Sumitomo Mitsui edged down 0.30% and Mitsubishi UFJ remained unchanged.

Automakers were also trading mixed. Honda gave away 0.56%, Nissan eased 0.24% and Toyota lost 0.62%, while Mitsubishi Motors gained 1.23% and Mazda advanced 0.54%. Toyota plans to reportedly cut its global sales target for 2009 to between 9.7 million and 9.8 million vehicles due to slowing demand in North America.

Electronics giant Sony was down 0.24%. The company said that in October, it would launch in Europe and the U.S. a new version of its Playstation Portable handheld game console that can be used as a telephone. Meanwhile, Canon gave away 0.60% and Komatsu advanced 1.24%.

Among shipping stocks, Mitsui OSK Lines advanced 0.63% and Kawasaki Kisen gained 0.78%. Nippon Yusen eased 0.47%.

Oil-related stocks advanced on the back of higher oil prices. Inpex Holdings rose 2.03%, Nippon Oil added 0.46% and Showa Shell gained 0.51%.

Tokyo Gas, Tohoku Electric Power Co and Japan Petroleum Exploration will reportedly work together to acquire the gas operations of the northern Japanese city of Sendai, slated to be privatized in 2010. Shares of Tokyo Gas remained unchanged.

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

Copyright(c) 2008 RealTimeTraders.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Posted in Categories: Eurozone, Japan, Releases, Stocks, USA.

Subscribe by RSS Subscribe by Email