Japanese Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading notably higher on Tuesday, reversing some of the sharp losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 37,600 level, with gains in index heavyweights and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in automakers and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 159.04 points or 0.42 percent at 37,629.71, after touching a high of 37,647.97 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is down more than 1 percent and Toyota is losing almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 3 percent, Screen Holdings is adding more than 1 percent and Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.1 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are losing almost 1 percent each.

The major exporters are mixed. Canon is losing almost 1 percent and Panasonic is edging down 0.2 percent, while Sony are gaining more than 2 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is adding more than 3 percent.

Among the other major gainers, IHI and M3 are surging almost 7 percent each, while Socionext and Kawasaki Heavy Industries are gaining more than 5 percent each. SMC is adding almost 4 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric, Nichirei and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are rising almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

In economic news, the monetary base in Japan was down 3.4 percent on year in May, the Bank of Japan said on Tuesday - coming in at 656.0.12 trillion yen. That beat forecasts for a decline of 4.2 percent following the upwardly revised 4.8 percent contraction in April.

Banknotes in circulation were down 2.0 percent on year, while coins in circulation fell 1.4 percent. Current account balances sank an annual 3.7 percent, including a 0.8 percent drop in reserve balances. The adjusted monetary base was up 12.7 percent on year at 646.138 trillion yen.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 142 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks came under pressure early in the session on Monday but showed a notable turnaround over the course of the trading day. The major averages climbed well off their lows of the session and into positive territory.

The major averages saw further upside going into the end of the day, reaching new highs for the session. The Nasdaq climbed 128.85 points or 0.7 percent at 19,242.61, the S&P 500 rose 24.25 points or 0.4 percent to 5,935.94 and the Dow inched up 35.41 points or 0.1 percent to 42,305.38.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. The German DAX Index fell by 0.3 percent and the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed just above the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices moved sharply higher on Monday, amid escalating geopolitical tensions and reports of more U.S. sanctions on Moscow. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery shot up $1.73 or 2.9 percent to $62.52 a barrel.