Japanese Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is slightly higher in choppy trading on Tuesday after being in the red most of the session, extending some of the gains in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 staying below the 28,900 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, with the market looking for direction, while alternating across the unchanged line.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 4.64 points or 0.02 percent at 28,876.42, after touching a high of 28,928.16 and a low of 28,752.88 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Monday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.5 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging down 0.3 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.1 percent. Mizuho Financial is flat.

The major exporters are mixed, with Mitsubishi Electric losing almost 1 percent, while Panasonic is edging up 0.1 percent. Sony and Canon are flat. Among the other major losers, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is slipping almost 5 percent, while Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Nippon Yusen K.K. are losing almost 4 percent each. Daiichi Sankyo is down more than 3 percent, while Idemitsu Kosan, Ebara, Isuzu Motors, JGC Holdings and Mazda Motor are declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, BANDAI NAMCO is gaining more than 4 percent, while M3 and Tokyo Tatemono are adding almost 4 percent each. Konami Group and Trend Micro are up almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 133 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks recovered and stayed firm to eventually close on a positive note on Monday after spending a couple of hours of the day's session in negative territory. The early weakness was due to weak industrial output, retail sales and fixed-asset investment data out of China. Data showing weak business activity in New York hurt as well. However, stocks rebounded as the day progressed with recent soft inflation data raising speculation that the Fed might slow down the pace of monetary tightening.

The major averages all ended on a firm note. The Dow ended with a gain of 151.39 points or 0.45 percent at 33,912.44, rallying from an early low of 33,582.96. The S&P 500 settled with a gain of 16.99 points or 0.4 percent at 4,297.14, while the Nasdaq advanced 80.87 points or 0.62 percent at 13,128.05, recovering from a low of 12,993.78.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.11 percent, Germany's DAX advanced 0.15 percent and France's CAC 40 moved up 0.25 percent. Crude oil prices tumbled Monday on worries about energy demand after data showed slower than expected growth of the Chinese economy in July. The lowering of the oil demand forecast for 2022 by OPEC also weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September dropped $2.68 or 2.9 percent at $89.41 a barrel.