TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is higher after recouping early losses on Wednesday, with the benchmark Nikkei index again breaking above the 29,000 mark, as traders digested better-than-expected retail sales data. Traders also await the Federal Reserve's monetary policy statement later today. The cues overnight from Wall Street were mixed.
However, traders are worried about the restrictions in economic activity amid the strong fourth wave of coronavirus infections driven by more contagious variants. Reports suggest that people are not complying with the state of emergency in Tokyo particularly, along with three other western Japan prefectures.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is gaining 103.02 points or 0.36 percent to 29,094.91, after hitting a low of 28,875.91 in early trades. Japanese stocks closed lower on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is up 0.5 percent. Among automakers, Honda and Toyota are gaining almost 1 percent.
In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is up more than 1 percent, while Advantest and Screen Holdings are gaining almost 2 percent each. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining more than 1 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding almost 2 percent.
Among the major exporters, Panasonic is gaining more than 1 percent, Mitsubishi Electric is up almost 1 percent and Sony is adding more than 3 percent, while Canon is edging down 0.2 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Fuji Electric is soaring almost 12 percent, Fujikura is gaining almost 6 percent, Tokyu Fudosan is adding almost 5 percent and Osaka Gas is up 3.5 percent. Z Holdings, Hino Motors, Takashimaya and M3 are gaining more than 3 percent each. NTT is up almost 3 percent.
Conversely, Tokuyama is losing more than 7 percent and Kyocera is down more than 5 percent, while Nippon Yusen, Central Japan Railway and Okuma are declining more than 3 percent each.
In economic news, the value of retail sales in Japan was up 5.2 percent on year in March, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Wednesday - coming in at 13.498 trillion yen. That was the first growth in retail trade since November 2020 and the steepest pace in five months, beating expectations for an increase of 4.7 percent following the 1.5 percent decline in the previous month. On a monthly basis, retail sales climbed 1.2 percent after advancing 3.1 percent in February. For the first quarter of 2021, retail sales were up 0.5 percent on year and 0.4 percent on quarter at 37.228 trillion yen.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 108 yen-range on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Tuesday with traders looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq posted a modest loss, slipping 48.56 points or 0.3 percent to 14,090.22, while the Dow and the S&P 500 closed nearly flat. The Dow inched up 3.36 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 33,984.93 and the S&P 500 edged down 0.90 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 4,186.72.
Meanwhile, the major European markets showed modest moves to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index closed just below the unchanged line, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both slipped by 0.3 percent.
Crude oil prices moved higher on Tuesday as OPEC's decision to gradually increase oil output helped offset concerns about energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $1.03 or 1.7 percent at $62.94 a barrel.
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