Japan Markets Open Lower; Nikkei Down 60 Points

Japanese stocks were trading lower on Tuesday. The Nikkei 225 dropped 0.33 percent, or 60.4 points to 18,296.50, and the TOPIX fell 0.12 percent, or 1.70 points to 1,467.88.

iShares MSCI Japan ETF EWJ shares rose 0.87 percent to close at $49.92, while iShares MSCI Pacific ex-Japan Idx (ETF) EPP fell 0.29 percent to close at $41.27 on Monday.

The U.S. dollar was trading at 111.96 versus the Japanese yen, compared to 111.35. overnight

West Texas Intermediate for January delivery fell 0.72 percent to trade at $46.74 per barrel on the NYMEX, while Brent for January settlement dropped 0.81 percent to $47.85 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.

U.S. markets closed lower on Monday, with the Dow dropping 0.28 percent to 19,097.90, and the NASDAQ falling 0.56 percent to 5,368.81.

Top market movers among the Japanese market are as follows:

• Shares of Yasunaga Corp (7271) climbed around 51 percent to 1,775.0 JPY.
• Kagetsuenkanko Co Ltd (9674) shares rose around 36 percent to 137.0 JPY.
• Fujipream Corp (4237) shares increased over 23 percent to 372.0 JPY.

• Mercuria Investment Co Ltd (7190) shares dropped around 10 percent to 2,925.0 JPY.
• Flight Holdings Inc (3753) declined over 7 percent to 1,635.0 JPY.
• Sorghum Japan Holdings Corp (6636) shares fell 6 percent to 198.0 JPY.