Japanese Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - Adding to the gains in the previous session, the Japanese stock market is modestly higher on Tuesday, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 38,900 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in exporters and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 128.70 points or 0.33 percent at 38,933.35, after touching a high of 38,954.12 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is flat. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 1 percent and Toyota is advancing almost 3 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is edging down 0.3 percent, while Tokyo Electron is losing more than 2 percent and Screen Holdings is declining almost 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining almost 3 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is adding more than 2 percent and Mizuho Financial is advancing 2.5 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Panasonic and Sony are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric and Canon are adding almost 1 percent each.

Among the other major gainers, IHI is gaining more than 4 percent and MS&AD Insurance is adding almost 4 percent, while Resona Holdings and Tokyo Tatemono are up more than 3 percent each. NTT Data, Nomura Holdings, Omron, Dai-ichi Life, Fukuoka Financial, Chugai Pharmaceutical and Concordia Financial are advancing almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Disco is losing more than 5 percent, Lasertec is declining almost 4 percent and Renesas Electronics is down more than 3 percent.

In economic news, producer prices in Japan were down 0.1 percent on month in May, the Bank of Japan said on Tuesday. That follows the 0.7 percent monthly jump in April. On a yearly basis, producer prices were up 2.5 percent, easing from 2.7 percent in the previous month.

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

On Wall Street, stocks ended mixed on Monday as investors stayed largely cautious ahead of some crucial economic data, including a report on personal income & spending due later in the week.

Among the major averages, the Dow closed higher, extending gains to a fifth straight session. The index ended up by 260.88 points or 0.67 percent at 39,411.21. The Nasdaq ended at 17,496.82, losing 192.54 points or 1.09 percent. The S&P 500 settled at 5,447.87, down 16.75 points or 0.31% from the previous close.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.53 percent, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 ended higher by 0.89 percent and 1.03 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices gained Monday on optimism about the outlook for demand and likely supply disruptions due to tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August rose $0.90 or 1.1 percent at $81.63 a barrel.