Japanese Market Modestly Higher

The Japanese stock market is modestly higher is choppy trading on Monday, recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 27,400 level, following the positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, as traders remained cautious and continued to assess the impact of the banking sector crisis in the US and Europe.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 67.49 or 0.25 percent at 27,452.74, after touching a high of 27,485.77 earlier. Japanese shares ended slightly lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is edging up 0.2 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.2 percent and Toyota is also edging up 0.2 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings is losing almost 2 percent, Advantest are edging down 0.5 to 0.3 percent and Tokyo Electron is down more than 2 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing more than 1 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is down almost 1 percent and Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.2 percent.

The major exporters are higher. Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Canon is edging up 0.4 percent. Sony is losing almost 1 percent.

Among the other major gainers, NEXON is gaining almost 3 percent.

Conversely, CyberAgent is losing almost 3 percent.

In economic news, producer prices in Japan were up 1.8 percent on year in February, the Bank of Japan said on Monday. That exceeded expectations for an increase of 1.5 percent and was up from 1.6 percent in the previous month. On a monthly basis, producer prices rose 0.2 percent – also topping expectations for a gain of 0.1 percent following the 0.3 percent decline in the previous month.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the 130 yen-range on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks came under pressure early in the session on Friday but staged a significant turnaround over the course of the trading day. The major averages climbed well off their lows of the session and into positive territory.

The major averages all moved to the upside as the day progressed, adding to the gains posted on Thursday. The Dow climbed 132.28 points or 0.4 percent to 32,237.53, the Nasdaq rose 36.56 points or 0.3 percent to 11,823.96 and the S&P 500 advanced 22.27 points or 0.6 percent to 3,970.99.

Meanwhile, the major European markets showed significant moves to the downside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both tumbled by 1.7 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Friday, extending losses from the previous session amid concerns that rising interest rates might hurt growth and result in a drop in energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended lower by $0.70 or 1 percent at $69.26 a barrel.

Market Analysis