Japan stocks fall following Wall Street

Japanese stocks gained for the second consecutive month on Wednesday, even as the two major indexes closed lower on Wednesday, weighed down by losses from technology and energy blue-chip companies and Wall Street’s decline.

The Nikkei index fell 0.37 percent to 28,091.53 points, while the broader Topix index fell 0.27 percent to 1963.16 points. In terms of trading during the month, the Nikkei rose 0.93 percent and Topix 1.18 percent.

And US stocks extended losses for the third session on Tuesday, as an increase in job opportunities fueled fears that the Federal Reserve may have another reason to maintain a path of aggressive interest rate hikes to combat inflation.

The data showed that Japanese factory production increased for the second month in July, as auto production improved, marking a positive start to the third quarter for manufacturers and broader economic activity.

Concerning the performance of companies, the robotics manufacturer Fanuc fell 0.95 percent, and the Sony Group fell 1.68%. Shares of Shin-Etsu Chemical, a maker of silicon wafers, also fell 1.06 percent.

Energy-related stocks also fell after oil prices fell five percent on Tuesday night, before offsetting some of their losses in Asian trading on Wednesday.

Oil exploration companies were the biggest losers among the 33 sub-indexes on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, down 3.16 percent. Refineries were the second biggest loser, down 2.82 percent.

The share of the explorer Explorer Inpex fell 3.55 percent, and the biggest loser on the Nikkei was followed by the share of refiner Ineos Holdings, which fell 3.09 percent.