The Japanese market opened sharply higher Tuesday with the yen's decline against the U.S. dollar triggering some hectic buying in early trades. A positive lead from Wall Street also aided sentiment.
However, after the early sharp upmove, stocks retreated as the yen regained some lost ground against the greenback.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which rose to 13,331.4 in early trades, hitting its highest level since August 2008, declined to around 13,178 subsequently and is currently trading at 13,265, up 72.4 points or 0.5 percent from its previous close.
Steel, non-ferrous metals, precision instruments, mining and ship building stocks opened on a high note but gave up some gains subsequently. Real estate, financial and railway stocks are trading mixed.
Okuma Corp. shares are up nearly 11 percent. Mitsubishi Materials, Toto and Sumitomo Heavy Industries are trading higher by 6 to 7 percent.
Amada Co., Sumitomo Metal Mining, Obayashi Corp., Sharp Corp., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, T&D Holdings, Mitsui & Co., Mitsubishi Corp., Mitsumi Electric, Suzuki Motor and Daiwa Securities Group are all up 3 to 5 percent.
Sony Financial Holdings, Taiheiyo Cement, Nissan Chemical Industries, Inpex Corp., Panasonic Corp. (PC), Olympus Corp., Hitachi Construction Machinery, Hino Motors, JFE Holdings and Nissan Motor are also trading sharply higher.
Meanwhile, Credit Saison, Tokyu Land, Tokyo Dome, Tokyo Tatemono, Mitsui Fudosan, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings and Bank of Yokohama are trading weak, losing 2 to 4 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the lower 99 yen range in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 99.43 to the U.S. dollar, after declining to 99.09.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore are trading notably higher. Malaysia, New Zealand and Taiwan are up marginally, while South Korea is trading slightly weak.
On Wall Street, stocks rebounded after early weakness and ended higher on Monday. While concerns about the economic outlook following recent jobs report hurt sentiment early on, bargain hunting lifted stocks to higher levels towards the end of the session.
The Dow rose 48.2 points or 0.3 percent to 14,613.5, the Nasdaq advanced 18.4 points or 0.6 percent to 3,222.3 and the S&P 500 climbed 9.8 points or 0.6 percent to 1,563.1.
Major European markets too ended higher on Monday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index moved up 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 index and the German DAX index both edged up by 0.1 percent.
U.S. crude oil ended higher on Monday, tracking global equity markets and on bargain hunting, even as supply concerns resurfaced with developments in Nigeria. Crude for May delivery ended up $0.66 or 0.7 percent at $93.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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Market Analysis
May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.