The Japanese stock market is trading higher on Tuesday amid a slew of economic reports. Though the mood is cautious due to a lack of triggers from global markets, investors are seen indulging in some bargain hunting in blue chip stocks from automobile, financial, insurance, transport and communications sectors.
Electric power and pharmaceuticals stocks are mostly trading lower. Shipbuilding, precision instruments and non-ferrous metals stocks are exhibiting a mixed trend.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index is currently up 93 points or nearly a percent at 9,598. The Nikkei ended lower by about 0.2 percent on Monday.
Shares of Sojitz Corp are up more than 4 percent. Nisshin Steel is trading higher by about 3.5 percent. Nissan Chemical Industries, Sharp Corp., Inpex, Softbank, JX HD, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Nippon Suisan, Chiyoda, Mitsubishi Materials and Advantest are up 2 to 3 percent.
Mitsui Chemicals, Japan Steel Work, Fuji Heavy Industries, Nippon Soda, Mitsubishi Chemicals, Nippon Express, GS Yuasa and Mitsubishi Paper are also up with strong gains.
Hino Motors, Isuzu Motors, Mitsubishi Motor, Mazda Motor and Nissan Motor are up 0.5 to 2 percent. Toyota Motor is up marginally.
Chiba Bank, Bank of Yokohama and Mizuho Financial are among the notable gainers in the banking space.
Tokyo Electric Power is down 3.3 percent following a rating downgrade. Toho Zinc, Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding, Chubu Electric Power, Astellas Pharma, Credit Saison and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are also trading notably lower.
In economic news, industrial production in Japan was up 1.0 percent in April compared to the previous month, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Tuesday, continuing to reflect the results of the devastating earthquake and tsunami on March 11. The April figure missed expectations for a 2.2 percent increase following the 15.5 percent plunge in March.
On an annual basis, output declined 14.0 percent - again shy of estimates for a 12.4 percent decline after shedding 13.1 percent in the previous month.
As a result of the data, the METI updated its assessment of industrial production to "sluggish at a low level" due to the earthquake, adding that industrial production is expected to recover gradually.
According to a report from the Ministry of Communications and Internal Affairs, the unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 4.7 percent in April, in line with expectations and up slightly from 4.6 percent in March.
The job-to-applicant ratio missed expectations, coming in at 0.61 versus forecasts for 0.62 after showing 0.63 in the previous month. The number of employed persons in April was 59.94 million, an increase of 0.1 percent on year. The number of unemployed persons was 3.09 million, down 8.8 percent on year.
According to another report from the same ministry, average household spending in Japan was down 3.0 percent on year in April, standing at 292,559 yen. That was below forecasts for a decline of 2.7 percent following the 8.5 percent plunge in March.
Among the individual categories, spending on education plummeted 11.3 percent on year, while housing was down 7.2 percent and fuel was down 4.5 percent. Spending for clothing was up 5.0 percent on year and medical care was up 3.7 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the upper 80 yen level in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 80.84 to the U.S. dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan are up with notable gains, while New Zealand and Singapore are trading modestly higher. Markets across the region ended on a mixed note on Monday.
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