Giving up some of the strong gains in the previous session, the Japanese stock market is notably lower on Tuesday, with the Nikkei 225 falling below the 39,600 level, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with losses in index heavyweights and technology stocks as investors braced for a BOJ policy shift when the central bank makes its policy announcement later in the day.
The central bank is widely expected to end its negative interest rates and yield curve control policies after this year\'s spring wage negotiations involving major Japanese firms delivered robust pay increases.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 181.69 points or 0.46 percent at 39,558.75, after hitting a low of 39,407.50 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Monday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is declining almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.1 percent, while Toyota is edging up 0.4 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is declining more than 2 percent and Screen Holdings is edging down 0.5 percent, while Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.3 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.3 percent.
The major exporters are mixed. Panasonic and Mitsubishi Electric are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Canon and Sony are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each.
Among the other major losers, Terumo and Chugai Pharmaceutical are losing more than 3 percent each, while Toppan Holdings, Eisai and Tokyo Electric Power are declining almost 3 percent each.
Advantest Corp.
Conversely, Sumitomo Realty & Development is gaining more than 4 percent, while Nidec and Inpex are adding almost 3 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 149 yen-range on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks gave back some ground over the course of the trading day on Monday after showing a strong move to the upside early in the session, but managed to close mostly higher. With the upward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 regained ground after closing lower for three straight sessions.
While the major averages came under pressure going into the close, they managed to end the day in positive territory. The Nasdaq advanced 130.27 points or 0.8 percent at 16,103.45, the S&P 500 climbed 32.33 points or 0.6 percent to 5,149.42 and the Dow rose 75.66 points or 0.2 percent at 38,790.43.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved modestly lower on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent, the U.K.\'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index closed just below the unchanged line.
Crude oil prices moved higher Monday amid concerns about supply due to geopolitical risks following continued drone attacks by Ukraine on Russian oil refineries, as well as data showing a drop in crude exports from Iraq and Saudi Arabia. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April jumped $1.68 or 2.1 percent at $82.72 a barrel.