The Japanese stock market rebounded significantly on Tuesday, with the Nikkei 225 surpassing the 40,200 mark, following mixed signals from Wall Street overnight. Gains in index heavyweights and technology stocks were somewhat countered by declines in the automotive and financial sectors.
As of now, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index has risen by 462.20 points, or 1.13 percent, to 40,242.90, after reaching an early high of 39,929.67. The market had closed slightly lower on Monday.
Among the market giants, SoftBank Group is up by more than 1 percent, while Fast Retailing, the operator of Uniqlo, has added nearly 2 percent. In the automotive sector, Honda is down 1.5 percent and Toyota has declined by over 1 percent.
In the tech industry, Advantest and Screen Holdings have each gained more than 2 percent, and Tokyo Electron is up by nearly 3 percent.
Within the banking sector, both Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial have lost more than 1 percent each, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is down by almost 1 percent.
Exporters presented mixed performances: Panasonic and Mitsubishi Electric fell by more than 1 percent and nearly 1 percent, respectively, whereas Sony gained almost 3 percent, and Canon added nearly 1 percent.
Other notable gainers include Fujikura, which surged over 8 percent, Resonac Holdings, which increased by nearly 6 percent, Hitachi, up by almost 4 percent, and Furukawa Electric, which added more than 3 percent.
There were no other significant losers.
In economic news, Japan's M2 money stock for June increased by 1.5 percent year-on-year to 1,257.5 trillion yen, as reported by the Bank of Japan on Tuesday. This was below expectations of a 2.0 percent gain and down from 1.9 percent in May. Meanwhile, the M3 money stock grew by 1.0 percent annually to 1,610.0 trillion yen, easing from the previous month's 1.3 percent. The L money stock rose by 3.0 percent year-on-year to 2,178.5 trillion yen, down from the prior 3.3 percent. In Q2 2024, M2 increased by 1.8 percent year-on-year, M3 rose by 1.3 percent, and L grew by 3.0 percent.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher range of 160 yen on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks had a mixed close on Monday, showing sluggishness after a strong start. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 reached record highs, while the Dow ended in negative territory. Optimism regarding interest rates had initially buoyed the market.
The Dow inched down by 31.08 points, or 0.08 percent, to 39,344.79. The S&P 500 gained 5.66 points, or 0.1 percent, to finish at 5,572.85, while the Nasdaq advanced by 50.98 points, or 0.28 percent, to 18,403.74.
In Europe, the major markets were down. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 decreased by 0.13 percent, France's CAC 40 fell by 0.63 percent, and Germany's DAX recorded a minor decline of 0.02 percent.
Crude oil prices dropped on Monday due to Hurricane Beryl causing shutdowns at some oil export facilities near Houston. West Texas Intermediate Crude for August fell by $0.83, or 1 percent, to close at $82.33 a barrel.
