Japanese Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - Adding to the gains in the previous two sessions, the Japanese stock market is slightly higher on Tuesday, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 38,200 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains is index heavyweights and exporters.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 30.73 points or 0.08 percent at 38,210.19, after touching a high of 38,477.68 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly lower on Monday.

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

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining almost 3 percent, while Tokyo Electron is edging down 0.5 percent and Screen Holdings is declining more than 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging up 0.2 percent.

The major exporters are higher. Panasonic is gaining more than 2 percent and Canon is edging up 0.3 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric and Sony are adding almost 1 percent each. Among the other major gainers, Furukawa Electric is skyrocketing more than 17 percent, Obayashi is soaring more than 13 percent, Toppan Holdings is surging more than 10 percent, Mercari is advancing more than 8 percent, Suzuki Motor is gaining more than 6 percent and Yamaha Motor is up more than 5 percent, while UBE and Dai Nippon Printing are adding more than 4 percent each. Nintendo, Konami Group, NEXON and M3 are gaining more than 3 percent each, while LY Corp. and Shiseido are adding almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Mitsubishi, Tosoh is plummeting more than 7 percent, Daiwa Securities is plunging more than 6 percent and Nissan Chemical is sliding almost 6 percent, while Chugai Pharmaceutical and Fujikura are losing more than 4 percent each. MS&AD Insurance, Comsys Holdings and Teijin are declining more than 3 percent each, while Shionogi & Co., Mitsui Mining & Smelting, Kajima, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Tokio Marine, Sompo Holdings and Japan Post are all down almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, producer prices in Japan were up 0.3 percent on month in April, the Bank of Japan said on Tuesday, accelerating from 0.2 percent in March. On a yearly basis, producer prices rose 0.9 percent - unchanged from the previous month following an upward revision from 0.8 percent. Export prices were up 0.4 percent on month and 1.3 percent on year, the bank said, while import prices fell 0.1 percent on month and 4.3 percent on year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 156 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Monday following the strong upward move seen last week. The major averages moved to the upside early in the session but spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

The major averages eventually ended the day narrowly mixed. While the Nasdaq rose 47.37 points or 0.3 percent to 16,388.24, the S&P 500 edged down 1.26 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 5,221.42 and the Dow dipped 81.33 points or 0.2 percent to 39,431.51.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved modestly lower on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slipped by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both dipped by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices advanced on Monday amid expectations about the outlook for demand after OPEC decided to extend supply cuts into the second half of the year. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $0.86 at $79.12 a barrel.