Japanese Market Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading modestly lower on Tuesday after opening well in the green, reversing some of the gains in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei 225 falling well below the 69,250 level, with a mixed performance across most sectors as traders remain cautious ahead of the rate decision later in the day.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 99.47 points or 0.14 percent at 69,218.03, after touching a high of 69,620.64 and a low of 69,095.67 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing 1.5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 2 percent and Toyota is also declining almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 2 percent and Screen Holdings is adding almost 1 percent, while Tokyo Electron is losing almost 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing more than 1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging down 0.4 percent, while Mizuho Financial is edging up 0.2 percent.

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

Among the other major losers, Ryohin Keikaku, Renesas Electronics and Disco are declining almost 4 percent each, while Tokyo Electric Power is down more than 3 percent. Trend Micro, Sumco, Sharp, Kajima, Shimizu, Obayashi, Idemitsu Kosan, Mitsui Chemicals and Kansai Electric Power are all losing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Sumitomo Electric Industries is jumping more than 6 percent, while Sumitomo Pharma and Fujikura are advancing almost 6 percent each. Mitsui Kinzoku is gaining more than 5 percent, while Furukawa Electric and Murata Manufacturing are adding almost 5 percent each. Kawasaki Heavy Industries is up more than 4 percent and Kanadevia is rising almost 4 percent, while IHI and Ibiden are gaining more than 3 percent each. Minebea Mitsumi, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kioxia Holdings are adding almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, the Bank of Japan will also conclude its monetary policy meeting and announce its decision on rates; the BoJ is expected to hike its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points, to 1.00 percent from 0.75 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 160 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks continued to turn in a strong performance throughout the trading day on Monday after moving sharply higher early in the session. The major averages all showed significant moves to the upside, with the Dow reaching a new record closing high.

The major averages gave back ground going into the end of the day but still posted strong gains. The Nasdaq surged 795.10 points or 3.1 percent to 26,683.94, the S&P 500 jumped 122.83 points or 1.7 percent to 7,554.29 and the Dow advanced 468.77 points or 0.9 percent to 51,671.03.

Meanwhile, the major European markets were mixed on the day. The German DAX Index jumped by 1.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has bucked the uptrend and fell by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices plummeted Monday after the U.S. and Iran reached an agreement to end their conflict and allow the immediate resumption of trade via the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was down $4.31 or 5.08 percent at $80.57 per barrel.