Japanese Market Significantly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is significantly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous eight sessions, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 29,300 level to 33-year highs, following the mixed cues from global markets overnight, boosted by gains from index heavyweights.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 233.37 points or 0.75 percent at 31,320.19, after touching a high of 31,352.53 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly higher on Monday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 1 percent and Screen Holdings is adding more than 1 percent, while Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.3 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is flat.

The major exporters are mostly weak. Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are losing almost 1 percent each, while Panasonic is edging down 0.3 percent. Canon is edging up 0.4 percent. Among the other major gainers, Nippon Paper Industries is soaring more than 10 percent, while Recruit Holdings and Trend Micro are gaining more than 4 percent each. Japan Steel Works is adding almost 4 percent, while M3, JGC Holdings and Yamaha Motor are up more than 3 percent each, while Taisei, Renesas Electronics, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Credit Saison are advancing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to expand in May, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Tuesday with a manufacturing PMI score of 50.8. That's up from 49.5 in April and it moves above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the services PMI rose from 55.4 in April to 56.3 in May.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 138 yen-range on Tuesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks turned in a mixed performance on Monday with technology shares outperforming the broad market. Investors largely refrained from making significant moves as they awaited updates on debt ceiling negotiations.

The major averages closed mixed. The Dow slipped after a slightly positive start but stayed weak right through the session and ended with a loss of 140.05 points or 0.42 percent at 33.286.58. The S&P 500 settled at 4,192.63, up 0.65 points or 0.02 percent, while the Nasdaq climbed 62.88 points or 0.5 percent to 12,720.78.

The major European markets also ended mixed with investors largely making cautious moves, focusing on U.S. debt ceiling talks. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.18 percent, while Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 shed 0.32 percent and 0.18 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices pared early losses and settled higher on Monday, amid hopes the U.S. lawmakers will reach a debt ceiling deal soon and help the nation avoid a default. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for June settled at $71.99 a barrel, up $0.44 or 0.6 percent on the expiration day.