Japanese Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is modestly higher in post-holiday trading on Wednesday, adding to the gains in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 38,800 level, with gains index heavyweights, exporter and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in automakers and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 78.69 or 0.20 percent at 38,879.86, after touching a high of 39,102.65 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly higher on Monday ahead of a holiday on Tuesday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.3 percent each, while Screen Holdings is flat.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.5 percent, while Mizuho Financial is losing more than 1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining almost 1 percent.

Among the major exporters, Canon is gaining more than 2 percent, Panasonic is advancing more than 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is adding almost 1 percent, while Sony is losing almost 2 percent.

Among other major gainers, M3 is skyrocketing more than 15 percent, Fujikura is soaring more than 9 percent and Furukawa Electric is surging more than 5 percent, while Sumitomo Electric Industries and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha are gaining almost 4 percent each. Nidec is adding more than 3 percent and Mitsubishi Chemical Group is advancing almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Sumco is plunging more than 7 percent and Nissan Motor is slipping more than 5 percent, while Taiyo Yuden and Daiichi Sankyo are losing more than 4 percent each. NEXON, Mazda Motor, Socionext, Nomura Holdings and Subaru are declining almost 4 percent each. Yokogawa Electric, Socionext, Obayash and Kyocera are declining almost 3 percent each, while IHI, Disco, Mitsubishi Motors and Minebea Mitsumi are sliding more than 3 percent each. Japan Exchange Group is down almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 153 yen-range on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Tuesday following the rebound seen during Monday's session. The major averages swung back and forth across the unchanged line as the day progressed before eventually closing narrowly mixed.

While the Nasdaq fell 70.41 points or 0.4 percent to 19,643.86, the S&P 500 crept up 2.06 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 6,068.50 and the Dow rose 123.24 points or 0.3 percent to 44,593.65.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index climbed by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices moved higher Tuesday amid concerns about a possible drop in crude supplies due to U.S. sanctions on Russian oil, while a weaker dollar contributed as well to the rise in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March rose $1.00 or 1.4 percent at $73.32 a barrel.