Japanese Market Sharply Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is sharply higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 27,300 level, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, with gains across most sectors, led by technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 396.92 points or 1.48 percent at 27,302.96 after touching a high of 27,305.10 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent and Toyota is also adding almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are gaining almost 4 percent each, while Screen Holdings is advancing more than 4 percent.

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

The major exporters are higher. Canon, Sony and Panasonic are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is adding more than 3 percent. Among the other major gainers, Ebara is surging more than 5 percent, Sumco is gaining more than 4 percent and GS Yuasa is adding almost 4 percent, while Hoya, Mitsubishi Electric and OKUMA are up more than 3 percent each. NEXON, Mitsubishi, Resonac Holdings and Sumitomo Metal Mining are advancing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, there are no major losers.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 130 yen-range on Tuesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading session on Monday, extending the significant rebound seen last Friday. With the continued upward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached their best closing levels in over a month.

The major averages pulled back off their highs of the session late in the day but remained firmly positive. While the Nasdaq soared 223.98 points or 2.0 percent to 11,364.41, the S&P 500 jumped 47.20 points or 1.2 percent to 4,019.81 and the Dow climbed 254.07 points or 0.8 percent to 33,62.56.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both rose by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices failed to hold early gains and settled roughly flat on Monday amid concerns about the outlook for oil demand due to a potential U.S. recession. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March settled at $81.62 a barrel, down 2 cents from the previous close, after climbing to a high of $82.64 a barrel around noon before paring gains.