2018-11-21
Japan's Nikkei hit its lowest level in three weeks and closed lower on Wednesday after sentiment was hurt by Wall Street's fall, as oil prices pushed resource and trade stocks down.
 
The benchmark Nikkei <.N225> was down 0.4 percent at 21,507.54, after touching 21,243.38 in early trade, its lowest level since Oct. 30.
 
The Topix index shed 0.6 percent to 1,615.89 points, after falling to 1,598.54 points.
 
"The main factors pushing Japanese stocks down are US equity selling and concerns over weaker earnings outlook for Japanese companies due to concerns about weak global growth," said Hikaru Sato, technical analyst at Daiwa Securities.
 
Highlighting investor sentiment for risk aversion, resources linked to the global economic cycle, such as trade, steel and mining, have performed weaker than the market.
 
Shares of Marubeni fell 2.7 percent, Mitsubishi Corp. fell 2.3 percent, Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal fell 1.4 percent, GFH Holdings fell 1.3 percent and Inpex Corp lost 3.3 percent.
 
Shares in Nissan Motor rose 0.4 percent after Tuesday's sharp drop in response to the arrest of company chairman Carlos Ghosn on Monday night.
 
Traders say it is unlikely to have an immediate impact on Nissan's earnings.