Japanese Market Advances, Nikkei Hits 6-year High

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market is trading firm on Tuesday, with the overnight strong close on Wall Street and a weaker yen triggering some hectic buying at several counters.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which hit its best level since November 2007 as it advanced to 16,029.65, is currently trading at 16,015.4, up 145 points or 0.9 percent from its previous close.

Mitsubishi Motors, up more than 5 percent, is the top gainer in the Nikkei index. Tokyo Electron, NKSJ Holdings, Alps Electric, MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings, Fanuc Corp., Hino Motors and KDDI Corp. are up 3 to 4 percent.

Oji Holdings, Denso Corp., Bridgestone Corp., Toyo Seikan Group Holdings, Toyota Tsusho Corp., Mitsui OSK Lines, Konica Minolta and Dowa Holding are all trading higher by more than 2 percent each.

Citizen Holdings, Fast Retailing, Trend Micro, Casio Computer, Advantest Corp. (ATE), Nippon Yusen KK, Daiwa Securities Group and Showa Denko KK are also trading notably higher.

Meanwhile, Japan Tobacco, Tokyo Electric Power, Seven & I Holdings, Ajinomoto Co., Mitsui Chemicals, Tokyo Tatemono, Osaka Gas, Sharp Corp. and Sumco Corp. are trading weak, losing 1 to 3 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in lower 104 yen-range in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 104.35 to the U.S. dollar.

Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong are trading notably higher. South Korea, Taiwan, Shanghai, Singapore and Malaysia are up with modest gains.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher on Monday, amid continued optimism about the outlook for the U.S. economy following upbeat remarks by the head of the International Monetary Fund. The gains lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record highs, while the Nasdaq reached its best levels since 2000.

While the Nasdaq jumped 44.2 points or 1.1 percent to 4,148.9, the Dow rose 73.5 points or 0.5 percent to 16,294.6 and the S&P 500 climbed 9.7 points or 0.5 percent to 1,828.

Major European markets too ended on a firm note on Monday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index jumped by 1.1 percent, the German DAX index climbed 0.9 percent and the French CAC 40 index surged up 0.5 percent.

U.S. crude ended lower on Monday, mostly on profit taking notwithstanding some upbeat U.S. gross domestic product data and an increase in the consumer sentiment index.

Crude for February delivery ended down $0.41 or 0.4 percent at $98.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after touching a high of $99.31 a barrel intraday.