The Japanese market ended lower amid volatility on Monday, a day when most other markets in the region remained closed on account of the 'Lunar Day' holiday. The weakness was mainly due to a stronger yen, which traded in the upper '88' level against the dollar, pressuring export-dependent stocks. Additionally, concerns over corporate earnings also weighed on the average. The Chinese, South Korean, Indonesian, Hong Kong, Australian and Indian markets were closed for public holidays. U.S. stocks closed the holiday-shortened week ended January 23rd on a downbeat note, with the major averages posting weekly declines for the third straight week. The negativity was aggravated by downbeat corporate news and disappointing economic reports. However, on Friday, the major U.S. averages came significantly off its lows and finished on a mixed note. For the week, the Dow Industrials ended down 2.46% and the Standard & Poor fell 2.14%, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 3.40%. At the same time, the Japanese Nikkei 225 average had ended the past week down 5.9% at a 2-month low of 7,745. Crude oil futures are receding $0.83 to $45.64 a barrel after rising about $3.90 or 9.16% to $46.47 a barrel in the week ended January 23rd. Gold futures are also seeing some weakness and are trading down $2.40 to $895.30 an ounce. On Monday, the Nikkei 225 average opened lower and remained mostly below the unchanged line in early morning trading. Although some buying emerged thereafter and the index moved above the unchanged line, it could not sustain the momentum till the end of the day. In the last hour of trading, the index dipped again, ending down 63.11 points or 0.81% at 7,682. Auto stocks ended mostly lower, with the exception of Mitsubishi Motors. Technology stocks Advantest, Canon, Fujikura, Hitachi, Sony and Toshiba also came under selling pressure. Glass manufacturer Asahi Glass slipped 4.55% and Nippon Sheet Glass lost 11.38%, while construction stocks Shimizu, Obayashi and Hitachi Construction Materials also showed weakness. Construction equipment maker Komatsu slipped 4.7% after it reduced its forecast, citing softening demand in the emerging markets. CSK Holdings slipped 8.63%, Meidensha fell 8.13%, Mitsubishi Estate declined 5.83%, Mitsui Fudosan fell 5.85%, Sumitomo Osaka moved down 9.91% and Sumitomo Realty fell 5.10%. On the other hand, Heiwa Real Estate climbed 3.45%, Kirin Holdings gained 4.50% and Mitsubishi Chemicals rose 3.18%. Mitsui OSK Lines ended up 3.77% compared to a 3.09% advance by Nippon Paper and a 2.98% rally by Oji Paper.

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