Japanese shares track Wall Street lower but post second monthly gain

The Nikkei share average fell 0.55% to 28,039.91, while the broader Topix lost 0.51% to 1,958.41. For the month, the Nikkei gained 0.93% while the Topix added 1.18%.

U.S. stocks extended losses to a third session on Tuesday, as a rise in job openings fuelled fears that the Federal Reserve has another reason to maintain its aggressive interest rate hike path to combat inflation.

“Japanese equities tracked Wall Street’s third-straight losing session, but gains in U.S. futures limited the decline,” said Maki Sawada, a strategist at Nomura Securities. “The impact of better-than-expected factory output data was limited.”

Data showed Japan’s factories extended expansion in output to a second month in July, as motor vehicle production improved, marking a positive start to the third quarter for manufacturers and broader economic activity.

Robot maker Fanuc lost 0.95% and Sony Group slipped 1.68%. Silicon wafer maker Shin-Etsu Chemical lost 1.06%.

Energy-related shares fell after oil prices dropped 5% overnight before recouping some of the losses in Asian trading hours on Wednesday.

Oil explorers were the top losers among the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s 33 industry sub-indexes with a 3.16% drop. Refiners were the second biggest losers with a fall of 2.82%.

Explorer Inpex fell 3.55% and was the top loser on the Nikkei, followed by refiner Eneos Holdings, which declined 3.09%.

Transport shares led the gains among industry groups, with airlines rising 1.23% and railways adding 1.04%.

Keisei Electric Railway jumped 3.72% to become the top gainer on the Nikkei, while ANA Holdings rose 1.7%. (Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Subhranshu Sahu)