The Japanese stock market is edging higher on Tuesday in choppy trade following the positive lead overnight from Wall Street and a slightly weaker yen. Investors are cautious ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision due on Wednesday.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 13.58 points or 0.06 percent to 22,952.31, off a high of 22,994.33 earlier.
The major exporters are higher on a slightly weaker yen. Panasonic is advancing almost 1 percent, Canon is higher by 0.6 percent, Sony is adding 0.4 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is rising 0.3 percent.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding more than 1 percent, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is advancing almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is down 0.2 percent, while Honda is rising almost 1 percent.
In the oil space, Inpex is adding more than 2 percent and Japan Petroleum is higher by more than 1 percent.
Among the market's best performers, Sumco Corp, Toho Zinc and Concordia Financial Group are rising more than 2 percent each.
On the flip side, Ajinomoto Co. and Sumitomo Osaka Cement are declining more than 2 percent each.
In economic news, the Bank of Japan said that producer prices in Japan were up 0.4 percent on month in November. That exceeded forecasts for a gain of 0.2 percent and was up from 0.3 percent in October.
Japan will also see October results for its tertiary industry index today.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid 113 yen-range on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed higher on Monday, though traders seemed somewhat reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. With the Fed widely expected to raise interest rates by a quarter point, traders are likely to keep a close eye on the accompanying statement as well as outgoing Fed Chair Janet Yellen's press conference for clues about the outlook for future rate hikes.
The Dow rose 56.87 points or 0.2 percent to 24,386.03, the Nasdaq advanced 35.00 points or 0.5 percent to 6,875.08 and the S&P 500 climbed 8.49 points or 0.3 percent to 2,659.99.
The major European markets turned a mixed performance on Monday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both fell by 0.2 percent.
Crude oil prices rose Monday, touching their highest in a week. WTI crude for January delivery climbed $0.63 or 1.1 percent to $57.99 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
by RTT Staff Writer
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