Japanese Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading slightly higher in choppy trading on Wednesday, extending the sharp gains in the previous session, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving well above the 67,000 mark, with gains in financial and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in index heavyweights.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 56.98 or 0.09 percent at 67,027.20, after touching a high of 67,144.36 and a low of 66,735.76 earlier. Japanese stocks ended sharply higher on Monday ahead of the holiday on Tuesday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 1 percent, while Toyota is gaining almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 1 percent, Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.2 percent and Screen Holdings is advancing more than 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining more than 3 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding almost 3 percent and Mizuho Financial is advancing more than 2 percent.

Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is losing more than 1 percent and Canon is edging down 0.4 percent, while Panasonic is gaining more than 1 percent and Sony is edging up 0.1 percent.

Among other major gainers, Yokohama Rubber is soaring more than 10 percent and M3 is jumping more than 8 percent, while Sapporo Holdings and Resonac Holdings are surging almost 5 percent each. Kirin Holdings and Chiba Bank are advancing almost 4 percent each, while Inpex, IHI, Fukuoka Financial and Resona Holdings are gaining more than 3 percent each. Ajinomoto, Asahi Kasei and Secom are adding almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Rakuten Group is tumbling almost 9 percent, while Nitori Holdings and Sumitomo Metal Mining are declining almost 4 percent each. Fujikura, Toyota Tsusho and Otsuka Holdings are losing more than 3 percent each. Omron, Murata Manufacturing, Lasertec, OKUMA, Amada and Furukawa Electric are down almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, the M2 money stock in Japan was up 2.2 percent on year in July, the Bank of Japan said on Wednesday - coming in at 1,297.0 trillion yen. That was unchanged from the June reading, although it was above forecasts for an increase of 2.1 percent.

The M3 was up 1.4 percent on year at 1,637.2 trillion yen - easing from 1.5 percent in the previous month. The L money stock jumped 4.4 percent to 2,338.4 trillion yen, slowing from 4.5 percent a month earlier.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 159 yen-range on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Tuesday after showing a lack of direction early in the session. The major averages all moved to the downside, adding to the modest losses posted in the previous session.

The major averages finished the day off their lows of the session but still in the red. The Nasdaq slid 159.91 points or 0.6 percent to 26,445.45, the S&P 500 fell 24.91 points or 0.3 percent to 7,728.20 and the Dow declined 184.13 points or 0.3 percent to 53,791.85. Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day mixed. While the German DAX Index rose by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slipped by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices surged on Tuesday, extending the gains from the two previous sessions as the U.S.-Iran stalemate continues, diminishing hopes for an early reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $0.89 or 1.08 percent at $83.02 per barrel.