The Japanese stock market is trading significantly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous session, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is moving above the 59,450 level, with gains in index heavyweights, exporters and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in financial stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 642.92 points or 1.09 percent at 59,467.81, after touching a high of 59,523.17 earlier. Japanese shares ended notably higher on Monday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining almost 4 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is edging up 0.4 percent. Among automakers, Honda is gaining almost 1 percent, while Toyota is losing almost 2 percent.
In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is gaining more than 4 percent, Advantest is adding almost 2 percent and Screen Holdings is advancing more than 3 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mizuho Financial are declining almost 2 percent each, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing almost 1 percent.
The major exporters are mostly higher. Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 1 percent, Panasonic is adding more than 2 percent and Canon is edging up 0.5 percent, while Sony is losing more than 1 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Resonac Holdings and Kioxia Holdings are jumping more than 4 percent each, while Lasertec is surging almost 5 percent. Sumitomo Electric Industries and Nissan Chemical are advancing more than 4 percent each. Fujikura is advancing almost 4 percent, while Sumco, Furukawa Electric and Ibiden are gaining more than 3 percent each. Renesas Electronics is adding almost 3 percent.
Conversely, SHIFT is declining more than 5 percent and Chugai Pharmaceutical is losing more than 4 percent, while IHI, Sumitomo Pharma and Kawasaki Heavy Industries are slipping more than 3 percent each. Nitori Holdings, Kanadevia, Daiichi Sankyo and Chiba Bank are down almost 3 percdent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 158-yen range on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks saw a modest pullback during trading on Monday following the substantial rally seen last week. The major averages all moved to the downside, although selling pressure was relatively subdued.
The major averages finished the day well off their lows of the session but still in the red. The Nasdaq fell 64.09 points or 0.3 percent to 24,404.39, the S&P 500 dipped 16.92 points or 0.2 percent to 7,109.14 and the Dow edged down 4.87 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 49,442.56.
The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index slumped by 1.1 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Monday after the U.S. seized an Iranian cargo ship and Iran vowed to retaliate, renewing supply-related concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $5.54 or 6.61 percent at $89.39 per barrel.
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Market Analysis
April 17, 2026 15:29 ET The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to raise concerns for policymakers who worry about the impact of the supply shock and high energy prices on the real economy. Producer price data and various survey results on the housing market were the main news from the U.S. this week. In Europe, industrial production data for the euro area gained attention. GDP figures out of China and the policy move by the Singapore central bank were in focus in Asia.