FX.co ★ Japanese Market Sharply Higher In Post-holiday Trade

In trading Tuesday, the Japanese stock market witnessed a sharp rise, bolstered by strong cues from Wall Street overnight, pushing the Nikkei 225 Index significantly above the 38,500 level. The Nikkei 225 Index increased by 627.22 points or 1.65 percent to 38,561.98 after reaching a high of 38,608.17 earlier in the session. This follows the sharp drop the market experienced last Friday ahead of the Monday holiday.

Major market players are seeing significant gains. SoftBank Group and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing saw their shares increase by more than 2 percent. Automakers Honda and Toyota also witnessed a growth of approximately 4 percent and 3 percent respectively. In the tech sector, Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings reported gains of nearly 3 percent, while Advantest saw a drop of nearly 5 percent. The banking sector also enjoyed gains, with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial seeing their shares rise by more than 1 percent, whereas Mitsubishi UFJ Financial reported gains of nearly 1 percent.

Major exporters such as Panasonic and Sony also reported nearly 3 percent gains each. Mitsubishi Electric saw a surge of nearly 17 percent. Other major gainers included Hitachi, Komatsu, Tokuyama, and Sumitomo. Conversely, M3, Oriental Land, and Nitto Denko saw significant drops in share value.

In economic news, Japan's retail sales fell by a seasonally adjusted 1.2 percent in March, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). However, compared to the previous year, sales rose by 1.2 percent. For the first quarter of the year, sales remained steady but saw a 2.6 percent increase compared to the previous year.

Furthermore, METI reported that Japan's industrial production increased by a seasonally adjusted 3.8 percent in March, outperforming forecasts. However, on a yearly basis, industrial output decreased by 6.7 percent. Following these data, METI revised its evaluation of the industrial production, stating fluctuation and weakened performance. METI predicts a rise of 4.1 percent and 4.4 percent in output for April and May, respectively.

Meanwhile, Japan's unemployment rate remained steady at a seasonally adjusted 2.6 percent in March. The jobs-to-applicant ratio exceeded expectations at 1.28.

In the currency market, the US dollar traded higher in the 156 yen range on Tuesday. Wall Street stocks continued their upward trajectory on Monday following last week's strong performance. The major European markets had a mixed performance, with the UK's FTSE 100 Index increasing slightly, while Germany's DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index declined slightly.

Oil prices dipped Monday as concerns about growth and demand for oil and prospects of the Federal Reserve postponing interest rate cuts increased. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June fell $1.22 or 1.45 percent, finishing at $82.63 a barrel.