Japanese Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is modestly higher in choppy trading on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 28,600 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, even as traders remain concerned over the outlook for interest rates and rising inflation.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 81.05 points or 0.28 percent at 28,623.16, after touching a high of 28,659.76 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing are gaining almost 1 percent each. Among automakers, Honda is losing more than 2 percent and Toyota is down almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Screen Holdings is edging up 0.5 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is flat and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.1 percent, while Mizuho Financial is edging up 0.1 percent.

The major exporters are mixed, with Sony edging up 0.1 percent, while Panasonic and Canon are losing almost 1 percent each. Mitsubishi Electric is flat. Among the other major gainers, Nintendo is surging almost 5 percent, East Japan Railway is adding more than 4 percent, Pacific Metals is advancing more than 3 percent, while Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, TDK, Sumitomo Metal Mining, ANA Holdings, Odakyu Electric Railway and West Japan Railway are all up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Mitsubishi Motors is declining almost 5 percent, Subaru and Mazda Motor are losing more than 3 percent and Olympus is down almost 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 142 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move to the upside during trading on Monday, extending the recovery rally seen last week. With the continued advance, the major averages closed higher for the fourth consecutive session.

The major averages finished the day firmly in positive territory. The Dow climbed 229.63 points or 0.7 percent to 32,381.34, the Nasdaq surged 154.10 points or 1.3 percent to 12,266.41 and the S&P 500 jumped 43.05 points or 1.1 percent to 4,110.41. The major European markets also showed strong moves to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index soared 2.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index spiked by 2.0 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index surged by 1.7 percent.

Crude oil prices surged higher on Monday amid rising speculation about the impact of Ukraine's offensive around Kharkiv on supply of Russian oil. A weak dollar contributed as well to the jump in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended higher by $0.99 or about 1.1 percent at $87.78 a barrel.