The Japanese stock market is modestly higher on Tuesday, recouping some of the sharp losses in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 just below the 26,700 level, following the positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders picked up stocks at a bargain after the recent sell-off and remained cautious amid a weaker yen and await the Bank of Japan’s upcoming monetary policy meeting.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 101.13 points or 0.38 percent at 26,691.91, after touching a high of 26,778.43 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Monday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent and Toyota is edging down 0.5 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is gaining more than 2 percent, Screen Holdings is adding almost 1 percent and Tokyo Electron are up more than 1 percent. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is edging down 0.2 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is edging down 0.4 percent, while Mizuho Financial is flat.
The major exporters are mixed, with Sony edging up 0.2 percent, Panasonic gaining almost 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric edging up 0.5 percent, while Canon is losing almost 1 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Kajima is gaining more than 3 percent, while Kikkoman, Z Holdings, Takara Holdings and Fujitsu are adding almost 3 percent each.
Conversely, Sumitomo Metal Mining is plunging more than 8 percent, Chugai Pharmaceutical is sliding 6.5 percent, Dowa Holdings is slipping almost 6 percent, Inpex is losing almost 5 percent, Toho Zinc is down more than 4 percent, Mitsui Mining & Smelting is declining almost 4 percent and Pacific Metals is lower by more than 3 percent.
In economic news, the unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.6 percent in March, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Tuesday. That was shy of expectations for 2.7 percent, which would have been unchanged from the February reading. The jobs-to-applicant ratio was 1.22, matching forecasts and up from 1.21 in the previous month. The participation rate was 62.1 percent, topping forecasts for 62.0 percent and up from 61.8 percent a month earlier.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid-127 yen-range on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a substantial turnaround over the course of the trading day on Monday after coming under pressure early in the session. The major averages bounced well off their early lows and ended the day significantly higher.
The major averages saw further upside going into the close, ending the session near their best levels of the day. The Dow climbed 238.06 points or 0.7 percent to 34,04946, the Nasdaq jumped 165.60 points or 1.3 percent to 13,004.85 and the S&P 500 rose 24.34 points or 0.6 percent to 4,296.12.
Meanwhile, the major European markets showed significant moves to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index slumped 1.5 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index plunged by 1.9 percent and 2 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices fell sharply on Monday as a spike in Covid cases in China raised concerns about energy demand. A strong U.S. dollar amid rising prospects of a series of sharp interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve also weighed on crude oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended down by $3.53 or 3.5 percent at $98.54 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Japanese Market Modestly Higher
2022-04-26 02:32:37
