Japanese Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is modestly higher in choppy trading on Monday, recouping the losses in the previous session. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving well above the 38,600 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street cues on Friday, with some gains across most sectors led by index heavyweights, exporters and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 71.58 or 0.19 percent at 38,668.05, after hitting a low of 38,416.07 and a high of 38,751.69 earlier. Japanese shares ended marginally lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.5 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging down 0.2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining 1.5 percent and Toyota is adding almost 2 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings and Advantest are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.3 percent.

In the banking sector, Mizuho Financial is gaining almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding more than 1 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.1 percent.

The major exporters are higher. Canon, Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Panasonic is losing almost 1 percent.

Among other major gainers, NHI Foods is gaining almost 5 percent.

Conversely, Mercari is losing more than 4 percent, while Sumitomo Metal Mining, Renesas Electronics and Isetan Mitsukoshi are declining almost 3 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 159 yen-range on Monday.

On Wall Street, stock showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Friday following the mixed performance seen in the previous sessions. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

The major averages eventually ended the day narrowly mixed. While the Dow inched up 15.57 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 39,150.33, the Nasdaq dipped 32.23 points or 0.2 percent to 17,689.36 and the S&P 500 dipped 8.55 points or 0.2 percent to 5,464.62.

Meanwhile, the major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index declined by 0.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices settled lower on Friday, weighed down by concerns about the outlook for global oil demand and a firm greenback. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for July shed $0.56 or 0.7 percent at $80.73 a barrel for the week but gained 3 percent for the week.