Japanese Shares Fall Second Day as Oil Tumbles on U.S. Supplies

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Japanese shares fell for a second day, following U.S. equities lower, as commodity shares led declines after crude oil dropped by the most in six weeks and speculation mounted that the Federal Reserve is moving closer to raising interest rates.

The Topix index slipped 0.3 percent to 1,360.42 as of 9:01 a.m. in Tokyo, with three shares falling for every two that rose. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average retreated 0.2 percent to 16,964.18. U.S. oil fell 4 percent on Tuesday to below $40 a barrel after a government report showed American crude supplies climbed to the highest level in more than eight decades.

The Topix has recovered about half its losses since a global equity rout at the start of the year sent the gauge into a bear market. The measure is still down about 12 percent in 2016, and is trading about 14.3 times estimated earnings. That compares with 17.2 for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and 15.4 for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index.

Source : Bloomberg