Japanese Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - Giving up the losses in the previous session, the Japanese stock market is modestly higher on Tuesday, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 39,300 level, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with traders reacting to domestic data that showed inflation in Japan dropping to the lowest level since March 2022.

This follows recent data showing Japan's economy fell into a technical recession in the fourth quarter. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 87.99 points or 0.22 percent at 39,321.70, after touching fresh all-time high of 39,426.29 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging down 0.5 percent, while Toyota is gaining almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is edging down 0.4 percen, while Tokyo Electron is gaining almost 1 percent and Screen Holdings is advancing more than 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding more than 1 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Panasonic is gaining almost 3 percent, Canon is adding more than 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is advancing almost 2 percent, while Sony is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Hitachi Zosen is gaining almost 6 percent, while Fukuoka Financial and Otsuka Holdings are adding more than 4 percent each. Osaka Gas and Kobe Steel are advancing almost 4 percent each, while JFE Holdings, Daiwa Securities, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Tokyo Gas and Nippon Steel are rising more than 3 percent each. Nomura Holdings, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Concordia Financial, Shizuoka Financial and IHI are up almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Rakuten Group is losing more than 3 percent, while Sumitomo Realty & Development and Mercari are declining almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid-150 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks ended on a negative note on Monday, and the major averages turned weak after a slightly positive start, as investors largely stayed cautious ahead of some key economic data, including a report on consumption expenditure.

Among the major averages, the Dow ended lower by 62.30 points or 0.16 percent at 39,069.23. The S&P 500 settled with a loss of 19.27 points or 0.38 percent at 5,069.53. The Nasdaq, which spent much of the day's session in positive territory despite a choppy ride, ended down 20.57 points or 0.13 percent at 15,976.25.

The major European markets also saw weakness on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 drifted down 0.29 percent, and France's CAC 40 settled lower by 0.46 percent, while Germany's DAX edged up 0.02 percent.

Crude oil prices pared early losses and climbed higher on Monday as continued attacks by Houthi militants in the Red Sea route raised concerns about supply. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $1.09 or 1.4 percent at $77.58 a barrel.