Japanese Market Sharply Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading sharply higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 38,300 level, with gains across all sectors led by strong gains in technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 667.39 points or 1.77 percent at 38,311.65, after touching a high of 38,494.06 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is adding almost 1 percent and Toyota is gaining almost 4 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 1 percent, Screen Holdings is advancing almost 3 percent and Tokyo Electron is surging almost 5 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is advancing more than 5 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining almost 5 percent and Mizuho Financial is adding almost 4 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Canon and Sony are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.4 percent and Panasonic is advancing almost 3 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Sumitomo Pharma is skyrocketing more than 12 percent and Yaskawa Electric is soaring almost 10 percent, while Socionext, Taiyo Yuden and Daiichi Sankyo are surging more than 7 percent each. Yamaha, Recruit Holdings and Fanuc are is gaining almost 7 percent each, while SMC is adding more than 6 percent. Suzuki Motor and NSK are rising almost 6 percent each, while Mitsui O.S.K. Lines is up more than 5 percent. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is advancing almost 5 percent.

Conversely, Sharp is plummeting almost 12 percent and Keio is plunging more than 8 percent, while Obayashi and Asahi Group are losing almost 4 percent each. Nitori Holdings, Marui Group, Kanadevia, ENEOS Holdings, Shimizu and Secom are declining almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 147 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Monday, more than offsetting the modest weakness seen in the previous week. With the strong upward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached their best closing levels in over two months.

The major average saw further upside going into the close, reaching new highs for the session. The Nasdaq soared 779.43 points or 4.4 percent to 18,708.34, the S&P 500 spiked 184.28 points or 3.3 percent to 5,844.19 and the Dow surged 1,160.72 points or 2.8 percent to 42,420.10.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.4 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed 0.6 percent and the German DAX Index rose by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices showed another strong move to the upside on Monday, riding optimism about the outlook for demand after the U.S. and China reached their trade deal. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery jumped $0.93 or 1.5 percent to $61.95 a barrel.