After a successful previous trading session, the Japanese stock market rose significantly on Tuesday, with the Nikkei 225 Index soaring past the 39,500 mark. The increase came on the heels of mixed signals from Wall Street, but was buoyed by a revival in technology shares.
The Nikkei 225 Index, a key benchmark, saw a substantial increase of 222.51 points or 0.57 percent, taking it to 39,569.55. This was after it achieved an earlier high of 39,649.27. Monday's trading also ended with a significant boost in Japanese shares.
In the market, major player SoftBank Group saw a slight dip of 0.3 percent, while the Uniqlo operating company Fast Retailing rose by the same margin. Automobile manufacturers like Honda and Toyota saw gains of around 1 percent.
As for technology companies, Advantest witnessed a similar increase of about 1 percent, Tokyo Electron saw a 3 percent rise, and Screen Holdings advanced by over 2 percent. On the banking front, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial increased slightly by 0.2 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial saw a minor drop between 0.1 to 0.4 percent each.
Major export companies encountered slight dips. Canon, Panasonic, and Sony each decreased by 0.1 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric rose by more than 2 percent. Other significant gainers included Yaskawa Electric and Fujikura, both with a 4 percent increase, and Sumitomo Metal Mining, Tokyo Electric Power and Mitsubishi Estate, each with a rise of over 3 percent. Chemical company Shin-Etsu, Rakuten Group and Ebara all advanced by nearly 3 percent.
On the flip side, there were no major losers of note.
In regard to currency, the U.S. dollar traded in the higher range of 151 yen on Tuesday.
Looking at Wall Street's Monday performance, there was a noticeable stagnation following the substantial volatility of the past two sessions. The major averages fluctuated throughout the day before closing with mixed results. As a result, the Nasdaq rose slightly by 5.44 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 16,253.96, the Dow fell minorly by 11.24 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 38,892.80, and the S&P 500 slipped 1.95 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 5,202.39.
European markets, however, saw more positive results. Germany's DAX Index grew by 0.8 percent, France's CAC 40 Index rose by 0.7 percent, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index increased by 0.4 percent.
Meanwhile, crude oil prices saw a decrease on Monday due to a slight easing in geopolitical tensions, following Israel's withdrawal of troops from Southern Gaza. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended down by $0.48 or 0.55 percent, settling at $86.43 a barrel.
