Japanese Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is modestly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 27,600 level, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders remained cautious ahead of the US Fed rate decision on Wednesday. Some positive domestic earnings news also aided market sentiment.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 50.30 points or 0.18 percent at 27,637.76, after touching a high of 27,644.92 and a low of 27,526.18 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.4 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent and Toyota is edging up 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Screen Holdings is edging down 0.2 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining almost 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.5 percent, while Mizuho Financial edging down 0.3 percent.

The major exporters are mixed, with Sony gaining more than 1 percent and Panasonic surging more than 4 percent, while Canon is edging down 0.1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is flat. Among the other major gainers, NTN is soaring almost 9 percent, Japan Tobacco is surging almost 8 percent and Mitsubishi is gaining more than 3 percent, while Komatsu, Marubeni, JGC Holdings, Itochu, Sojitz, Sumitomo and Mitsui & Co. are adding almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Kyocera is plunging more than 7 percent, Nippon Electric Glass is losing more than 4 percent, Sumitomo Pharma is slipping almost 4 percent and Osaka Gas is declining more than 3 percent, while Otsuka Holdings, Murata Manufacturing and Shionogi & Co. are down almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to expand in October, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Tuesday with a manufacturing PMI score of 50.7. That's down from 50.8 in September, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 148 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks drifted lower on Monday with investors making cautious moves, as they continued to react to recent quarterly earnings updates from big-name companies and looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's policy announcement due on Wednesday.

The major averages all ended on a negative note. The Dow ended the session with a loss of 128.85 points or 0.39 percent at 32,732.95. The S&P 500 settled with a loss of 29.08 points or 0.75 percent at 3,871.98, while the Nasdaq dropped 114.31 points or 1.03 percent to settle at 10,988.15.

The major European markets ended mixed on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.66 percent, Germany's DAX edged up 0.08 percent, and France's CAC 40 ended lower by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices fell Monday amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand from China following a fresh surge in COVID-19 cases. A rise in oil output in the U.S., and a firm dollar also weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended down $1.37 or 1.6 percent at $86.53 a barrel.