Japanese Market Sharply Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading sharply higher on Tuesday, snapping a three-session losing streak, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 63,650 level, with gains in index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 1,480.51 points or 2.28 percent at 63,670.16, after touching a high of 63,684.69 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is jumping almost 8 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 1 percent and Toyota is edging down 0.5 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is jumping more than 10 percent, Screen Holdings is surging more than 6 percent and Tokyo Electron is advancing more than 4 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are gaining more than 1 percent each.

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

Among the other major gainers, Ibiden is soaring almost 11 percent and Kokusai Electric is surging almost 8 percent, while Resonac Holdings and Sumco are jumping almost 7 percent each. Disco, Socionext and Lasertec are advancing almost 6 percent each, while Sumitomo Pharma is gaining more than 5 percent and Renesas Electronics is adding almost 5 percent. Fujikura and Murata Manufacturing are up more than 4 percent each.

Conversely, Daiichi Sankyo is tumbling more than 6 percent, while Mitsubishi Estate and Mitsui Fudosan are declining more than 3 percent each. Central Japan Railway, Sumitomo Realty & Development, Toho, Aeon, Rakuten Group, West Japan Railway and East Japan Railway are losing almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 157 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved back to the upside during trading on Monday following the pullback seen over the last two sessions of the previous week. The major averages all moved higher on the day, although the Dow posted a relatively modest gain.

The major averages finished the day off their highs of the session but still in positive territory. The Nasdaq advanced 214.04 points or 0.8 percent to 26,169.38, the S&P 500 climbed 53.09 points or 0.7 percent to 7,676.77 and the Dow rose 146.32 points or 0.3 percent to 52,361.58.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. The German DAX Index advanced by 0.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index increased by 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices slumped on Monday on reports that a delegation from Qatar has visited Iran to discuss de-escalation of regional conflicts. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $1.27 or 1.27 percent at $102.00 per barrel.