Bouncing back from the losses suffered over the previous two trading sessions, the Japanese stock market experienced significant gains in the post-holiday trading on Tuesday. The Nikkei 225 index climbed well above the 38,600 level, reflecting the positive influences from global markets. Most sectors had gains, led in particular by index heavyweights and technology shares.
Tuesday's performance placed the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index up by 446.84 points or 1.17 percent at 38,682.91 after peaking earlier at 38,863.14. Before the holidays on Friday and Monday, the Japanese shares ended slightly lower on Thursday.
Major market participants like SoftBank Group and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing made significant strides, both reporting gains of around 3 percent. Not all shares saw an increase though, with Honda losing close to 1 percent and Toyota dipping by 0.1 percent.
Technology stocks seemed to fare pretty well overall; Advantest, Tokyo Electron, and Screen Holdings all saw gains of 2 to 4 percent. The banking sector showed a modest increase with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial inching up by 0.2 percent, whereas Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial dipped by 0.2 to 0.5 percent each.
Mixed results were observed among major exporters. While Panasonic and Sony slipped by about 1 and 3 percent respectively, Mitsubishi Electric and Canon both saw gains of around 1 percent. Other major gainers included Fujikura and Disco, each surging by more than 5 percent, and Rakuten Group, Nomura Holdings, and ZOZO, each gaining almost 5 percent.
Economic data released Tuesday revealed that Japan's services sector continued its expansion in April and at a quicker pace, as suggested by the latest Jibun Bank survey. The services PMI score increased to 54.3, up from 54.1 in March, indicating an acceleration in economic expansion.
The exchange rate for U.S. dollar against the yen lingered in the lower 154 yen-range on Tuesday.
American stocks experienced a robust upward trend during trading on Monday, extending the rally observed at the end of last week. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached record highs at the close of trading, the Nasdaq surging 192.92 points or 1.2 percent to 16,349.25, the S&P 500 jumping 52.95 points or 1.0 percent to 5,180.74, and the Dow climbing 176.59 points or 0.5 percent to 38,862.27.
European markets also reported progress. The German DAX Index jumped by 1.0 percent, while the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both rose by 0.5 percent.
In terms of commodities, crude oil prices settled slightly higher on Monday. The boost came after Saudi Arabia's decision to hike its selling price for the European and Asian markets, with West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ending higher by $0.37 or 0.47 percent at $78.48 a barrel.
