TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is modestly higher on Monday despite the sell off on Wall Street Friday amid worries about global economic growth and a stronger yen. Nevertheless, gains are modest as investors turned cautious ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision due on Wednesday.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 83.51 points or 0.39 percent to 21,458.34, after rising to a high of 21,563.27 earlier. Japanese stocks ended lower on Friday despite a fairly decent Tankan survey report.
The major exporters are mostly higher despite a stronger yen. Mitsubishi Electric is advancing almost 2 percent, Canon is adding 0.7 percent and Panasonic is up 0.2 percent, while Sony is down 0.3 percent.
In the tech sector, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are rising more than 2 percent each. Among the major automakers, Honda is adding 0.6 percent and Toyota is up 0.4 percent.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is rising 0.6 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is adding almost 1 percent. In the oil space, Inpex is declining more than 1 percent and Japan Petroleum is losing more than 2 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Showa Denko and Tokyo Electric Power are advancing almost 2 percent each, while Kansai Electric Power and Fujifilm Holdings are rising more than 1 percent each.
On the flip side, Yahoo Japan is losing more than 4 percent and Chiyoda Corp. is lower by 3 percent. Sumitomo Dainippon, Ube Industries, Oki Electric and Recruit Holdings are down more than 2 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid 113 yen-range on Monday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed sharply lower on Friday amid renewed concerns about the outlook for global economic growth following the release of data showing disappointing industrial output and retail sales growth in China.
The Dow plunged 496.87 points or 2 percent to 24,100.51, the Nasdaq nosedived 159.67 points or 2.3 percent to 6,910.67 and the S&P 500 plummeted 50.59 points or 1.9 percent to 2,599.95.
The major European markets also moved to the downside on Friday. While the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 0.9 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both fell by 0.5 percent.
Crude oil futures tumbled Friday on global economic growth concerns. WTI crude for January delivery tumbled $1.38 or 2.6 percent to $51.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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