Japanese Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is modestly higher in choppy trading on Tuesday, snapping the three-session losing streak, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 27,300 level, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with traders buying stocks at a bargain after the recent losses, while remaining cautious ahead of the Bank of Japan's decision on interest rates later in the day.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 83.89 points or 0.31 percent at 27,321.53, after touching a high of 27,339.49 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining 1.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.2 percent, while Toyota is edging down 0.5 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 1 percent and Screen Holdings is adding almost 1 percent, while Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.2 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is adding more than 1 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Canon and Mitsubishi Electric are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Sony losing almost 1 percent. Panasonic is flat. Among the other major losers, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is gaining almost 4 percent, while T&D Holdings and Keisei Electric Railway are declining almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no major losers.

In economic news, the Bank of Japan will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Tuesday and then announce its decision on interest rates. The BoJ is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at -0.10 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 137 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks closed lower on Monday, extending losses to a fourth straight session, as rising concerns over a recession amid rising interest rates hurt sentiment. The Federal Reserve last week indicated it plans to continue raising interest rates next year, leading to worries the aggressive monetary policy tightening will tip the economy into a recession.

The major averages all ended notably lower. The Dow settled with a loss of 162.92 points or 0.49 percent at 32,757.54, the S&P 500 dropped 34.70 points or 0.90 percent to settle at 3,817.66, and the Nasdaq ended lower by 159.38 points or 1.49 percent at 10,546.03.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index gained 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index added 0.36 percent and the French CAC 40 Index advanced 0.32 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Monday amid optimism about increased demand for oil from China after the country relaxed certain COVID-related restrictions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $0.91 or 1.25 percent at $75.20 a barrel.