Japanese Market Trades Weak On U.S. Jobs Data, Stronger Yen

Japanese Market Trades Weak On U.S. Jobs Data, Stronger Yen ; The Japanese stock market is trading weak on Monday with Friday's weak U.S jobs data and a stronger yen hurting sentiment and triggering some buying in several blue chip stocks.

After a sharp fall following a flat start, the market rebounded smartly but faltered again with investors not showing any keen interest in holding positions at higher levels. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which recovered to around 10,170 after falling to 10,145, is currently down 30.3 points or 0.28% at 10,148.

Shares from the electric machinery, precision instruments, insurance sectors are mostly trading weak. Electric power, mining, manufacturing and land transport stocks are trading higher.

Oki Electric, Panasonic Corp., Canon Inc., Olympus Corp., Nikon, Trend Mico, Ebara and Yokogawa Electric are trading notably lower.

Automobile stocks Mitsubishi Motor, Nissan Motor, Isuzuk Motors, Honda Motor and Suzuki Motor are also trading weak, while Hino Motor and Mazda Motor are up with modest gains.

Sumitomo Metal Mining, Taiheiyo Cement, Kobe Steel, Mitsubishi Chemicals, JFE Holdings, Sumitomo Metal Industries and NGK Insulators are up 2%-3.5%.

Mitsui, Nisshin Steel, Shinsei Bank, Sumitomo Osaka, Nippon Electic Glass, Fujifilm, Sumitomo Trust & Banking, J Front Retailing, Nomura Holdings and Mizuho Securities are also up with notable gains.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the upper 82 yen level in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 82.80 to the U.S. dollar.

Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Shanghai, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan are trading firm. Malaysia and South Korea are down with modest losses, while Australia is trading flat. Markets across the region ended on a mixed note on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks posted moderate gains on Friday, getting over a disappointing November jobs report released before the start of trading. The much weaker than expected jobs growth was written off as a stumble on the way to broader economic recovery, helping to stave off heavy selling in today's session.

The major averages moved higher late in the day, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq index rising to a three-year closing high. The Nasdaq gained 12.1 points or 0.5% to end at 2,591.5, the Dow advanced by 19.7 points or 0.2% to 11,382.1 and the S&P 500 ended up 3.2 points or 0.3% at 1,224.7.

Major European markets closed on opposite sides of the unchanged mark. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index and the German DAX index slid by 0.4% and 0.1% respectively, while the French CAC 40 index inched up by 0.1%. For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today

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