Japanese Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is modestly higher on Wednesday, recouping some of the losses in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 below the 27,800 level, despite the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with gains in exporters and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 182.15 points or 0.66 percent at 27,776.88, after touching a high of 27,837.63 earlier. Japanese stocks closed sharply lower on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 1 percent and Toyota is edging up 0.3 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is flat, while Advantest is gaining almost 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.4 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.4 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining more than 2 percent.

Among the major exporters, Sony is gaining almost 2 percent, Canon is up almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is adding more than 3 percent, while Panasonic is edging down 0.1 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Nichirei is surging almost 6 percent, Daikin Industries is gaining more than 4 percent, M3 is adding almost 4 percent and Z Holdings is advancing more than 3 percent, while Mitsubishi and Fujitsu are down almost 3 percent.

Conversely, AGC is losing almost 4 percent, while Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings and Sekisui House are down almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, the services sector in Japan continued to expand in July, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Wednesday with a services PMI score of 50.2. That's down from 53.0 in June, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the composite PMI fell to 50.3 in July from 54.0 in June.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 133 yen-range on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks closed on a weak note on Tuesday as rising tensions between the U.S. and China, and signs of slowing global growth weighed on sentiment. Hawkish comments from a couple of Federal Reserve officials weighed as well.

The major averages all ended in negative territory. The Dow ended with a loss of 402.23 points or 1.23 percent at 32,396.17, the S&P 500 settled with a loss of 27.44 points or 0.67 percent at 4,091.19 and the Nasdq ended with a loss of 20.22 points or 0.16 percent at 12,348.76.

The major European markets also closed on a weak note on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged down 0.06 percent, Germany's DAX ended 0.23 percent down and France's CAC 40 shed 0.42 percent.

Crude oil futures settled higher Tuesday, with traders weighing demand and supply prospects and looking ahead to this week's OPEC+ meeting. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $0.53 or 0.6 percent at $94.42 a barrel.