Japanese Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is modestly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 32,300 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in index heavyweights, exporters and financial stocks. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 68.22 points or 0.21 percent at 32,322.78, after touching a high of 32,539.88 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly higher on Monday. Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 1 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.4 percent. Among automakers, Honda is adding more than 1 percent, while Toyota is edging down 0.1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing more than 2 percent and Screen Holdings is declining more than 1 percent, while Tokyo Electron is gaining almost 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.1 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining almost 1 percent and Mizuho Financial is adding more than 1 percent.

The major exporters are higher. Canon is gaining almost 1 percent, while Panasonic, Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each.

Among the other major gainers, Comsys Holdings is soaring almost 9 percent, while Japan Steel Works, Kikkoman and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha are surging almost 5 percent each. Ajinomoto is gaining almost 4 percent, while Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Otsuka Holdings are advancing more than 3 percent each. Meiji Holdings, Tokyu Fudosan, Tokyo Gas, Kubota, Takara Holdings, Sumitomo Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are adding almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Nippon Paper Industries is losing almost 7 percent, Sharp is declining almost 5 percent and Z Holdings is down almost 3 percent.

In economic news, the average of household spending in Japan was down 4.2 percent on year in June, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Tuesday - coming in at 275,545 yen. That missed expectations for an annual decline of 4.1 percent following the 4.0 percent contraction in May. The average monthly income per household stood at 898,984 yen, down 5.6 percent on year. On a monthly basis, household spending jumped 0.9 percent - beating forecasts for an increase of 0.3 percent after sinking 1.1 percent in the previous month.

The Bank of Japan said overall bank lending in Japan was up 2.9 percent on year in July, coming in at 605.389 trillion yen. That was shy of expectation for an increase of 3.1 percent, which would have been unchanged from the June figure following a downward revision from 3.2 percent. Excluding trusts, bank lending rose an annual 3.3 percent to 528.379 trillion yen, easing from 3.4 percent a month earlier.

Meanwhile, Japan posted a current account surplus of 1.509 trillion yen in June, the Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday. That beat expectations for a surplus of 1.395 trillion yen following the 1.862 trillion yen surplus in May. Exports were up 0.5 percent on year to 8.630 trillion yen and imports slumped 14.3 percent to 8.301 trillion yen for a trade surplus of 328.7 billion yen. The capital account showed a deficit of 42.0 billion yen and the financial account had a surplus of 545.2 billion yen.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 143 yen-range on Tuesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks closed on a firm note on Monday, recovering well after recent sharp losses, as investors looked ahead to more earnings updates and data on U.S. consumer and producer price inflation, due later in the week.

The major averages all closed higher. The Dow settled at 35,473.13, gaining 407.51 points or 1.16 percent, the S&P 500 ended with a gain of 40.41 points or 0.9 percent at 4,518.44 and the Nasdaq climbed 85.16 points or 0.61 percent to 13,994.40.

Meanwhile, the major European markets finished the day mixed. While the French CAC 40 Index was up by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index inched down by 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index was down by 0.13 percent.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Monday, coming off the four-month highs they touched last week. The dollar's strength ahead of inflation data weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September shed $0.88 or 1.1 percent at $81.94 a barrel.