Japanese Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - Adding the gains in the previous session, the Japanese stock market is slightly higher on Tuesday, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 39,100 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in some Index heavyweights and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 55.89 points or 0.14 percent at 39,125.57, after touching a high of 39,346.15 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly higher on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.5 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.4 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 1 percent and Toyota is edging down 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 2 percent, Tokyo Electron is advancing almost 1 percent and Screen Holdings is edging up 0.1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.1 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing almost 1 percent and Mizuho Financial is declining more than 2 percent.

The major exporters are mixed. Panasonic, Canon and Sony are edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is edging up 0.1 percent. Among the other major gainers, MS&AD Insurance is skyrocketing almost 16 percent, Tokio Marine is surging almost 5 percent and Fujikura is gaining more than 4 percent, while ENEOS Holdings, Isetan Mitsukoshi, Tokyo Electric Power, Sharp, Alps Alpine, Disco and Mitsui Mining & Smelting are adding more than 3 percent each. NTN is advancing almost 3 percent.

Conversely, Sompo Holdings is losing 4.5 percent and Daikin Industries is down almost 4 percent, while Mercari, Shiseido, Sumitomo Pharma, Rakuten Group and T&D Holdings are declining almost 3 percent each.

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

On Wall Street, stocks moved in opposite directions over the course of the trading session on Monday after an early advance. The tech-heavy Nasdaq added to last week's strong gains, reaching a new record closing high, while the Dow gave back ground after closing above 40,000 for the first time last Friday.

The Nasdaq ended the day up 108.91 points or 0.7 percent at 16,794.87. The S&P 500 also crept up 4.86 points or 0.1 percent to 5,308.13, but the Dow fell 196.82 points or 0.5 percent at 39,806.77.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both climbed by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices settled lower on Monday, weighed down by concerns the Federal Reserve will likely keep interest rates higher for a longer time. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures dropped to around $79.80, down $0.26 from the previous close.