Japanese Market Modestly Higher

The Japanese stock market is modestly higher on Tuesday, recouping the loss in the previous session, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 28,100 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, and as the Japanese government revealed plans to craft a new economic package by the end of April to ease the pain of yen’s recent weakness.

Traders continue to monitor developments surrounding the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis, with hopes of peace talks that will resume today leading to a diplomatic solution.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 184.19 points or 0.66 percent at 28,128.08, after touching a high of 25,227.53 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing are gaining almost 2 percent each. Among automakers, Honda is adding almost 2 percent and Toyota is gaining more than 2 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest and Screen Holdings are adding almost 1 percent each, while Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.4 percent. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging up 0.2 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining almost 1 percent, while Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.3 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher, with Panasonic, Sony and Canon gaining almost 2 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric adding almost 1 percent.

Among the other major gainers, M3 and Chubu Electric Power is gaining more than 5 percent each, while Seven & I Holdings and CyberAgent are adding almost 4 percent each. Yamaha Motor is up more than 3 percent, while Alps Alpine and Japan Steel Works are rising almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Nippon Light Metal Holdings is losing almost 3 percent.

In economic news, the jobless rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.7 percent in March, the Ministry of Communications and Internal Affairs said on Tuesday. That was beneath expectations for 2.8 percent, which would have been unchanged from the January reading. The job-to-applicant ration was 1.21, which beat forecasts for 1.20 – which was the same as the previous month. The participation rate was 61.8 percent, exceeding estimates for 61.7 percent, which would have been unchanged.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 123 yen-range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks ended on a positive note on Monday thanks to some strong buying in the final hour as hopes about a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine helped offset concerns about inflation and imminent monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve.

The major averages all ended higher, with the tech-laden Nasdaq outperforming with a sharp uptick. The Dow, which slipped to 34,552.23 around noon, losing more than 300 points in the process, ended the session with a gain of 94.65 points or 0.27 percent at 34,955.89.

The S&P 500 settled with a gain of 32.46 points or 0.71 percent at 4,575.52, nearly 60 points off the session’s low of 4,517.69. The Nasdaq, which saw a brief spell in negative territory around noon, ended stronger by 185.60 points or 1.31 percent at 14,354.90.

Meanwhile, the major European markets pared gains towards the later part of the session after a strong spell in positive territory following a steady start Monday morning. Germany’s DAX gained 0.78 percent and France’s CAC 40 settled with a gain of 0.54 percent, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 ended down 0.14 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Monday amid concerns about outlook for energy demand from the world’s largest oil importer after Shanghai announced fresh lockdowns to curb the spread of Covid-19 infections in the country. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended down by $7.94 or 7 percent at $105.96 a barrel.

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