The Japanese stock market is slightly higher on Tuesday after being in the red in most of the morning session, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 staying below the 27,400 level, despite the lack of cues from Wall Street overnight, after economic data released showed better-than-expected unemployment rate and retail sales growth in April.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 7.91 points or 0.03 percent at 27,377.34, after touching a high of 27,463.33 and a low of 27,250.70 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply higher on Monday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging down 0.4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.3 percent, while Toyota is flat.
In the tech space, Advantest is edging down 0.2 percent and Tokyo Electron is losing more than 1 percent, while Screen Holdings is flat. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mizuho Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each.
The major exporters are mixed, with Sony and Mitsubishi Electric edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each, while Canon and Panasonic are edging down 0.5 percent each.
Among the other major losers, Tokyo Tatemono is losing 3.5 percent, while Sumitomo Osaka Cement, Pacific Metals and Sumitomo Electric Industries are slipping almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Inpex is surging more than 6 percent, Subaru is adding almost 4 percent, Fujikura is up more than 3 percent and Minebea Mitsumi is advancing almost 3 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 128 yen-range on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, the markets were off on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday and will return to action on Tuesday.
The major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 ended 0.19 percent up, Germany’s DAX climbed 0.72 percent and France’s CAC 40 surged up 0.7 percent.
Crude oil futures hit their highest level in more than two months on Monday, as China eased COVID-19 restrictions and moved to stimulate the country’s faltering economy. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for July ended at $115.75 a barrel, up $0.68 or 0.59 percent.
Market Analysis
Japanese Market Slightly Higher
2022-05-31 02:29:11
