Japanese Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is modestly higher on Wednesday, recouping some of the loss in the previous four sessions, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 26,400 level, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, boosted by technology and financial stocks. Meanwhile, traders are concerned about the rising domestic cases of COVID-19 amid the seventh wave of infections.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 82.21 points or 0.31 percent at 26,418.87, after touching a high of 26,543.07 earlier. Japanese stocks closed sharply lower on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining 1.5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 3 percent and Toyota is adding almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings and Advantest are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is adding more than 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are gaining almost 1 percent each, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.2 percent. Among the major exporters, Sony and Panasonic are edging down 0.2 percent each, while Canon is losing almost 1 percent. Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.1 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Toho is surging almost 8 percent and Recruit Holdings is gaining almost 4 percent.

Conversely, JGC Holdings and Tokio Marine are gaining more than 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 137 yen-range on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction for much of the session on Tuesday before coming under considerable pressure in late-day trading. With the downward move on the day, the major averages added to the notable losses posted on Monday.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the close but remained firmly negative. The Dow fell 192.51 points or 0.6 percent to 30,981.33, the Nasdaq slumped 107.87 points or 1 percent to 11,264.73 and the S&P 500 slid 35.63 points or 0.9 percent to 3,818.80.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned positive over the course of the session. While the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the German DAX Index climbed by 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Tuesday on concerns about the outlook for global demand due to recession fears and a renewed spike in Covid-19 cases. West Texas Intermediate for August delivery shed $8.25 or 7.9 percent to $95.84 a barrel, closing below $100 a barrel for the first time in two months.