Japanese Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is notably higher on Tuesday, recouping the slight losses in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 27,500 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, driven by gains in technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 105.47 points or 0.38 percent at 27,529.43, after touching a high of 27,585.17 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is also adding more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 1 percent and Toyota is edging up 0.4 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.2 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging down 0.3 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging up 0.5 percent each.

The major exporters are mixed. Sony is gaining almost 1 percent and Panasonic is edging up 0.3 percent, while Canon is losing almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is edging down 0.1 percent. Among the other major gainers, Taiheiyo Cement, Sumitomo Osaka Cement and Yaskawa Electric are gaining more than 3 percent each, while Nippon Paper Industries is adding almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Alps Alpine is losing almost 5 percent and Teijin is declining more than 3 percent.

In economic news, industrial production in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 4.6 percent on month in January, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Tuesday. That was shy of expectations for a decline of 2.6 percent following the 0.3 percent increase in December. On a yearly basis, industrial output fell 2.3 percent after skipping 2.4 percent in the previous month.

Upon the release of the data, the METI downgraded its assessment of industrial production, saying that it has weakened. According to the METI's forecast of industrial production, output is expected to jump 8.0 percent in February and rise 0.7 percent in March.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 136 yen-range on Tuesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks gave back ground over the course of the trading day on Monday after moving sharply higher early in the session. The major averages pulled back well off their early highs but managed to close in positive territory.

The Dow surged more than 360 points in early trading but ended the day up by just 72.17 points or 0.2 percent at 32,889.09. The Nasdaq climbed 72.04 points or 0.6 percent to 11,466.98 and the S&P 500 rose 12.20 points or 0.3 percent to 3,982.24.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index surged by 1.5 percent, the German DAX Index jumped by 1.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices pulled back Monday, handing back recent gains on concerns that higher interest rates will tip the global economy into a recession. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery slid $0.64 or 0.8 percent to $75.68 a barrel.