Japanese Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is modestly higher on Tuesday, recouping some of the losses in the previous three sessions, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 32,600 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, with gains in index heavyweights partially offset by losses in technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 99.11 points or 0.31 percent at 32,566.87, after touching a high of 32,749.35 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably lower on Monday. Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining 2.5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda and Toyota are gaining more than 1 percent each.

In the tech space, Advantest is losing almost 3 percent, Screen Holdings is declining more than 2 percent and Tokyo Electron is down almost 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each.

The major exporters are mixed. Canon and Sony are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Panasonic is gaining almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Rakuten Group is gaining more than 4 percent and Sumitomo Pharma is adding almost 4 percent, while Alps Alpine, Mitsubishi Chemical Group and Mazda Motor are advancing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, IHI is plummeting almost 14 percent, Kawasaki Heavy Industries is plunging more than 7 percent and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is losing more than 3 percent, while Renesas Electronics and JFE Holdings are declining almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 146 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Monday following the notable pullback seen last week. The major averages all moved to the upside on the day, adding to the modest gains posted last Friday.

The major averages all closed in positive territory, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq posting a standout gain. The Nasdaq jumped 156.37 points or 1.1 percent to 13,917.89, the S&P 500 climbed 29.97 points or 0.7 percent to 4,487.46 and the Dow rose 87.13 points or 0.3 percent to 34,663.72.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0. percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.4 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices fell on Monday, retreating from last week's 10-month highs on concerns about the outlook for energy demand from China. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended lower by $0.22 or 0.3 percent at $87.29 a barrel.