Japanese Market Sharply Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading sharply higher on Tuesday, adding the gains in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 39,100 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains across all sectors led by index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 611.70 points or 1.59 percent at 39,124.72, after touching a high of 39,145.94 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 1 percent and Toyota is also adding more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 3 percent, Screen Holdings is surging more than 7 percent and Tokyo Electron is adding almost 4 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.4 percent, Mizuho Financial is gaining almost 1 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is adding more than 1 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Panasonic and Mitsubishi Electric are gaining more than 3 percent each, while Canon is adding more than 1 percent and Sony is edging up 0.3 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Disco is surging 6.5 percent, while Furukawa Electric and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha are advancing almost 5 percent each. Fujikura is gaining more than 4 percent, while Nidec, Lasertec and Asahi Kasei are adding almost 4 percent each. Mitsubishi Electric and Nippon Yusen K.K. are advancing more than 3 percent each, while Sumitomo Heavy Industries and Nitto Denko are up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Kansai Electric Power iand Sumitomo Pharma are losing more than 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 149 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks closed on a mixed note on Monday. Technology stocks had a good session although the broad market remained somewhat sluggish as investors looked ahead to upcoming economic data, including private and non-farm payroll reports, JOLTs, and readings on manufacturing activity, due during the course of this week.

Among the major averages, the Dow ended down 128.65 points or 0.29 percent at 44,782.00, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, both closed at record highs at 6,047.15 and 19,403.95, respectively. While the S&P 500 gained 14.77 points or 0.24 percent, the Nasdaq climbed 185.78 points or 0.97 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.31 percent, Germany's DAX jumped 1.57 percent and France's CAC 40 edged up 0.02 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Monday on possible supply disruptions due to rising tensions on the geopolitical front although the upside was marginal as investors look to Thursday's OPEC meeting. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended up by $0.10 or 0.15 percent at $68.10 a barrel.