The Japanese stock market is trading modestly higher on Tuesday, snapping a three-session losing streak, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Monday, with the Nikkei 225 moving above the 60,950 level, with gains in financial stocks partially offset by weakness in automakers and technology stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is up 144.06 points or 0.24 percent at 60,960.01, after touching a high of 61,456.31 earlier. Japanese shares ended significantly lower on Monday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 3 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is gaining more than 3 percent. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 1 percent and Toyota is edging down 0.5 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is losing more than 2 percent, Screen Holdings is slipping more than 3 percent and Tokyo Electron is declining almost 2 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining almost 2 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is advancing almost 3 percent and Mizuho Financial is jumping more than 4 percent.
The major exporters are mostly lower. Mitsubishi Electric is declining more than 4 percent and Panasonic is edging down 0.2 percent, while Sony is gaining more than 1 percent. Canon is flat.
Among the other major gainers, BayCurrent is jumping more than 7 percent, while BANDAI NAMCO and AGC are surging almost 7 percent each. Konami Group is advancing more than 6 percent, while Taiyo Yuden and Nintendo are rising almost 6 percent each. Nomura Research Institute is advancing more than 5 percent, while Olympus, M3, Tokyo Electric Power and Recruit Holdings are gaining almost 5 percent each. Fujitsu, NEC and CyberAgent are adding more than 4 percent each.
Conversely, Sumitomo Pharma is tumbling almost 5 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric and Dowa Holdings are sliding more than 4 percent each. Lasertec, Yaskawa Electric, Renesas Electronics and Furukawa Electric are declining almost 4 percent each, while Fujikura, Nissan Chemical, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Yokohama Rubber, Hoya and Tokuyama are losing more than 3 percent each. Fanuc is down almost 3 percent.
In economic news, Japan's gross domestic product expanded a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent on quarter in the first quarter of 2026, the Cabinet Office said in Tuesday's preliminary reading. That beat expectations for a gain of 0.4 percent and was up from the downwardly revised 0.2 percent increase in the three months prior (originally 0.3 percent). On a yearly basis, GDP was up 2.1 percent - again topping forecasts for 1.7 percent and up from the downwardly revised 0.8 percent gain in the previous quarter (originally 1.3 percent).
Capital expenditure was up 0.3 percent on quarter, beating forecasts for 0.2 percent after adding 1.4 percent in Q4. External demand and private consumption were both up 0.3 percent on quarter.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 158 yen-range on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks saw continued weakness throughout much of the trading day on Monday but managed to regain some ground going into the end of the session, following the sharp pullback seen during last Friday's session.
The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day, with the Dow reaching positive territory. While the Dow climbed 159.95 points or 0.3 percent to 49,686.12, the S&P 500 edged down 5.45 points or 0.1 percent to 7,403.05 and the Nasdaq slid 134.41 points or 0.5 percent to 26,090.73.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside over the course of the session. While the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1.3 percent and the German DAX Index shot up by 1.5 percent.
Crude oil prices surged on Monday as the U.S. takes time to respond to Iran's new peace proposal. West Texas Intermediate crude for June was last up $3.27 or 3.10 percent at $108.69 per barrel.
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Market Analysis
May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.