The Japanese stock market is significantly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark Nikkei index hitting a 31-year high to be just below the 30,800 level, as the domestic coronavirus case count drops below the 5,000 mark for the first time since late July, rekindling hopes of an early economy recovery.
Traders continue to be optimistic that a new government to implement new economic measures to alleviate the prolonged impact of the pandemic, even as the state of emergency is Tokyo and 18 prefectures were extended until the end of the month.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is gaining 313.40 points or 1.03 percent to 30,760.77, after touching a high of 30,772.49 earlier. Japanese shares closed marginally higher on Monday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is flat, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining more than 2 percent and Toyota is adding more than 1 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is edging down 0.4 percent, while Screen Holdings is flat and Tokyo Electron is edging up 0.4 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Mizuho Financial is adding almost 1 percent.
The major exporters are higher, with Mitsubishi Electric adding almost 1 percent, while Canon and Sony are edging up 0.4 percent each. Panasonic is flat.
Among the other major gainers, Showa Denko K.K. is gaining almost 7 percent and Tokio Marine Holdings is adding almost 6 percent, while Mitsui E&S Holdings and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha are up almost 5 percent each. Fujikura is up more than 4 percent, while NTN, Suzuki Motor, Z Holdings and Kawasaki Heavy Industries are rising more than 3 percent each. Marubeni, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Dai-ichi Life, Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Citizen Watch and KDDI are all gaining almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Konami Holdings is losing 2.5 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the 110 yen-range on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Monday, with the Dow and the S&P 500 both snapping five-session losing streaks. The Nasdaq bucked the uptrend, however, as the tech-heavy index closed lower for the fourth straight session.
The Dow climbed 261.91 points or 0.8 percent to 34,869.63 and the S&P 500 rose 10.15 points or 0.2 percent to 4,468.73. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq climbed off its worst levels but still edged down 9.91 points or 0.1 percent to 15,105.58.
Meanwhile, the major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index inched up by 0.2 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both climbed by 0.6 percent.
Crude oil futures showed a notable move to the upside during trading on Monday, reflecting lingering concerns about U.S. supply. After jumping $1.58 or 2.3 percent to $69.72 a barrel last Friday, crude for October delivery climbed $0.73 or 1 percent to $70.45 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Japanese Market Significantly Higher
2021-09-14 02:26:56
