Japanese Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is notably higher on Tuesday, recouping some of the losses in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 32,200 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders reacted to data showing a better than expected increase in domestic GDP, with gains across most sectors, led by technology and financial stocks. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 206.39 points or 0.64 percent at 32,266.30, after touching a high of 32,403.93 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Monday. Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is adding more than 1 percent and Toyota is gaining almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are gaining more than 3 percent each, while Screen Holdings is adding almost 3 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.4 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining almost 1 percent, while Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.1 percent.

The major exporters are higher. Canon is edging up 0.3 percent and Panasonic is gaining more than 1 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are adding almost 1 percent each.

Among the other major gainers, Ebara is soaring almost 8 percent and Japan Post Holdings is gaining more than 4 percent, while Mitsui Chemicals is advancing more than 3 percent.

Conversely, Dentsu Group and Citizen Watch are losing more than 7 percent each, while M3 is declining almost 4 percent.

In economic news, Japan's gross domestic product expanded a seasonally adjusted 1.5 percent on quarter in the second quarter of 2023, the Cabinet Office said in Tuesday's preliminary report. That blew away expectations for an increase of 0.8 percent following the upwardly revised 0.9 percent gain in the previous three months (originally 0.7 percent). On an annualized basis, GDP was up 6.0 percent - again beating forecasts for a gain of 3.1 percent following the upwardly revised 3.7 percent increase in the first quarter (originally 2.7 percent).

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 145 yen-range on Tuesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks climbed higher on Monday, riding on the strength of technology shares after turning in a mixed performance on Friday. Bargain hunting contributed a bit to market's uptick today. Activity in the market was somewhat subdued due to a lack of major U.S. economic data.

The major averages all closed higher. The Dow ended the session with a gain of 26.23 points or 0.07 percent at 35,307.63, the S&P 500 settled up 25.67 points or 0.58 percent at 4,489.72 and the Nasdaq closed with a gain of 143.48 points or 1.05 percent at 13,788.33.

Meanwhile, the major European markets closed mixed today. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index ended down by 0.23 percent, Germany's DAX gained 0.46 percent and the French CAC 40 Index edged up 0.12 percent.

Crude oil prices dropped on Monday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand and a stronger dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended lower by $0.68 or 0.8 percent at $82.51 a barrel.