Japanese Market Sharply Higher

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading sharply higher on Tuesday, reversing the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving up to near the 54,000 mark, with gains across most sectors led by financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 1,340.50 points or 2.55 percent at 53,995.68, after touching a high of 54,084.67 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Monday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 3 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is adding more than 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.2 percent and Toyota is gaining 1.5 percent.

In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is gaining 2.5 percent, Screen Holdings is advancing more than 4 percent and Advantest is adding more than 3 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is advancing almost 4 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is gaining more than 3 percent and Mizuho Financial is surging more than 5 percent.

The major exporters are mostly higher. Panasonic is gaining almost 4 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is advancing 2.5 percent, Sony is adding almost 3 percent and Canon is edging up 0.5 percent.

Among the other major gainers, TDK is jumping almost 12 percent and Kyocera is surging almost 8 percent, while Taiyo Yuden, Murata Manufacturing and Furukawa Electric are advancing almost 7 percent each. Komatsu and Takashimaya are advancing more than 6 percent each. Fujikura, Ibiden, Hoya, Shimizu, Resona Holdings and Fuji Electric is gaining almost 6 percent each, while Mitsui Kinzoku is adding more than 5 percent.

Conversely, Yamaha Motor is tumbling more than 10 percent, Yamato Holdings is sliding almost 6 percent, Sumitomo Pharma is declining more than 4 percent and NH Foods is losing more than 3 percent.

In economic news, the monetary base in Japan was down 9.5 percent on year in January, the Bank of Japan said on Tuesday - coming in at 589.403 trillion yen. That beat expectations for a decline of 10.2 percent following the upwardly revised 9.7 percent drop in December (originally -9.8 percent).

Banknotes in circulation dropped 2.8 percent on year, while coins in circulation fell 1.3 percent. Current account balances tumbled 11.1 percent, including a 9.7 percent drop in reserve balances. The adjusted monetary base fell 9.0 percent on year to 598.209 trillion yen.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 155-yen range on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Monday following the mixed performance seen last week. The major averages all moved to the upside on the day, with the Dow posting a standout gain.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels late in the day but remained in positive territory. The Dow jumped 515.19 points or 1.1 percent to 49,407.66, the Nasdaq climbed 130.29 points or 0.6 percent to 23,592.11 and the S&P 500 rose 37.41 points or 0.5 percent to 6,976.44.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index shot up by 1.2 percent, the German DAX Index jumped by 1.0 percent and the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.7 percent.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Monday as signs of de-escalation of the U.S.-Iran conflict reduced supply-output concerns in the Middle East, taking off the geopolitical risk premium. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was down $3.28 or 5.03 percent at $61.93 per barrel.