Japanese Market Significantly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is significantly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 moving to nearly the 27,200 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, with gains in technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 202.13 points or 0.75 percent at 27,177.03, after touching a high of 27,243.34 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent and Toyota is edging up 0.5 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.3 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 higher, with Sony, Panasonic, Canon and Mitsubishi Electric gaining more than 1 percent each. Among the other major gainers, Concordia Financial Group and Nidec are gaining almost 4 percent each, while Keyence and Resona Holdings are adding more than 3 percent each.

Conversely, Chugai Pharmaceutical is losing more than 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 148 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks fluctuated early in the session on Monday but moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day. The major averages added to the strong gains posted in the previous session, with the Dow and the S&P 500 reaching their best closing levels in a month. The major averages pulled back off their highs of the session going into the close but remained firmly positive. The Dow surged 417.06 points or 1.3 percent to 31,499.62, the Nasdaq advanced 92.90 points or 0.9 percent to 10,952.61 and the S&P 500 jumped 44.59 points or 1.2 percent to 3,797.34.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both jumped by 1.6 percent.

Crude oil prices moved lower on Monday, giving ground following the advance seen last Friday. The pullback reflected lingering concerns about the outlook for global demand, particularly in China. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery fell $0.47 or 0.6 percent to $84.58 a barrel.