Japanese Market Significantly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is significantly higher in choppy trading on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 moving well above the 28,100 level, despite the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with gains across most sectors, led by technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 218.33 points or 0.78 percent at 28,163.12, after touching a high of 28,203.35 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.3 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 1 percent and Toyota is adding more than 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 1 percent, Screen Holdings is edging up 0.5 percent and Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.1 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining more than 1 percent, Mizuho Financial is adding almost 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.2 percent.

The major exporters are higher, with Sony and Canon gaining almost 1 percent each, while Panasonic is surging more than 4 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is adding more than 1 percent. Among the other major gainers, Mitsubishi Motors and Aeon are surging more than 4 percent each, while Nippon Sheet Glass and JFE Holdings are gaining almost 4 percent each. Sapporo Holdings, Tokyo Electric Power and Shionogi & Co. are adding more than 3 percent each, while Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, IHI, Marubeni, Tokyo Gas, JGC Holdings, Kobe Steel and Taisei are all up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no major losers.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 141 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved back to the downside during trading on Monday after ending last Friday's choppy session mostly higher, stocks. The tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a particularly steep drop after ending the preceding session little changed.

The major averages all finished the day in negative territory, although the Dow posted a relatively modest loss, edging down 45.41 points or 0.1 percent to 33,700.28. The Nasdaq tumbled 121.55 points or 1.1 percent at 11,024.51 and the S&P 500 slid 15.40 points or 0.4 percent to 3,949.94.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index slid by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices fell to a ten-month low on Monday but regained some lost ground and ended the day's session modestly lower. Worries about the outlook for demand from China contributed to the early slump by oil prices following a surge in Covid-19 cases in the country. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures ended lower by $0.35 or about 0.4 percent at $79.73 a barrel, off a low of $75.08 a barrel.