Japanese Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading modestly higher on Tuesday, snapping a three-session losing streak, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 53,900 level, with gains in financial stocks and a mixed performance in most other sectors.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 159.99 points or 0.30 percent at 53,911.14, after touching a high of 54,388.43 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.3 percent, while Toyota is gaining almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.2 percent and Screen Holdings is gaining more than 2 percent, while Advantest is losing almost 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are all gaining more than 1 percent.

The major exporters are mixed. Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Canon is losing more than 1 percent and Sony is declining more than 1 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is jumping almost 7 percent and Furukawa Electric is surging almost 6 percent, while GS Yuasa, Sumco, Mitsui & Co. and Daiichi Sankyo are advancing more than 4 percent each. Tokyo Electric Power, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Inpex are gaining more than 3 percent each, while Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Taisei, Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Sumitomo Pharma, Renesas Electronics and Ibiden are adding almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Furukawa Electric and Sumitomo Electric Industries are sliding almost 4 percent each, while Lasertec is declining more than 3 percent. Komatsu and Fujikura are losing almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 159-yen range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move back to the upside during trading on Monday after moving notably lower over the past few sessions. The major averages all moved notably higher, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the way.

The major averages ended the day off their highs of the session but still sharply higher. The Nasdaq surged 268.82 points or 1.2 percent to 22,374.18, the S&P 500 jumped 67.19 points or 1.0 percent to 6,699.38 and the Dow advanced 387.94 points or 0.8 percent to 46,946.41

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index rose by 0.5 percent and the French CAC 40 Index increased by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices slipped Monday as the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz showed mild signs of easing. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was down $5.38 or 5.45 percent at $93.33 per barrel.