FX.co ★ Japanese Market Sharply Lower

After a period of gains in the last three sessions, the Japanese market took a heavy hit on Thursday. Overnight mixed signals from Wall Street contributed to this downward trend. Most sectors recorded losses, with exporters and technology stocks leading the decline, and as a result, the Nikkei 225 plummeted below the 37,800 mark.

Having fallen to a previous low of 37,772.11, the Nikkei 225 Index was down 701.77 points or 1.82 percent to 37,758.31. On Wednesday, Japanese shares had closed significantly higher.

In terms of individual stocks, key player SoftBank Group's shares fell by over 1 percent, while Fast Retailing, the company behind Uniqlo, saw a marginal increase of 0.5 percent. Among car manufacturers, both Toyota and Honda recorded losses, with their shares down more than 3 percent and almost 2 percent, respectively.

In the tech sector, Advantest's shares fell by more than 2 percent, while shares in Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings fell by over 3 percent each. Likewise, in the banking sector, losses were observed with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial's shares dropping almost 1 percent and both Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial's shares falling over 1 percent each.

Major exporters also saw significant losses. Canon's shares plummeted over 7 percent, Sony's dropped almost 1 percent, Panasonic's fell more than 4 percent, and Mitsubishi Electric saw a decline of almost 4 percent. Other significantly impacted companies included J. Front Retailing, Isetan Mitsukoshi, and Hino Motors, all of which saw share losses of more than 4 percent each. Komatsu, CyberAgent, Nikon and Japan Exchange also experienced almost 4 percent loss each. Socionext, Mitsubishi Electric and Credit Saison's shares declined more than 3 percent each, while Lasertec's shares slipped almost 3 percent. As an exception, Renesas Electronics saw a gain of almost 4 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar was traded in the lower 155 yen-range on Thursday.

Elsewhere, Wall Street's performance on Wednesday was quite underwhelming, despite the strong start to the week. After an initial surge, the major averages fluctuated throughout the day. Eventually, performances were mixed, with the Dow witnessing a minor decrease while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq saw minute increases.

European markets also experienced a modest dip. The German DAX Index fell by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index by 0.2 percent, and the UK's FTSE 100 Index by 0.1 percent.

Finally, the futures for West Texas Intermediate Crude oil for June dropped by $0.55 to $82.81 a barrel on Wednesday. This was due to uncertainty surrounding future demand and easing tensions in the Middle East.