Japanese Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - Adding to the gains in the previous session, the Japanese stock market is notably higher on Tuesday, with the Nikkei 225 moving well above the 39,500 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, boosted by a rebound in technology stocks.

F The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 222.51 points or 0.57 percent at 39,569.55, after touching a high of 39,649.27 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.3 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent and Toyota is adding more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 1 percent, Tokyo Electron is adding almost 3 percent and Screen Holdings is advancing more than 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.2 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging down 0.1 to 0.4 percent each.

The major exporters are mostly weak. Canon, Panasonic and Sony are edging down 0.1 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is adding more than 2 percent. Among the other major gainers, Yaskawa Electric and Fujikura are gaining almost 4 percent each, while Sumitomo Metal Mining, Tokyo Electric Power and Mitsubishi Estate are adding more than 3 percent each. Shin-Etsu Chemical, Rakuten Group and Ebara are advancing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no other major losers.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 151 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Monday following the substantial volatility seen over the final two sessions of the previous week. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing narrowly mixed.

While the Nasdaq crept up 5.44 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 16,253.96, the Dow edged down 11.24 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 38,892.80 and the S&P 500 slipped 1.95 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 5,202.39.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While German DAX Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Monday amid slightly easing geopolitical tensions after Israel removed its troops from Southern Gaza. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended down $0.48 or 0.55 percent at $86.43 a barrel.