TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is edging lower in choppy trade on Tuesday in the absence of any cues from U.S. markets, which were closed overnight for a public holiday. Investors are cautious after the International Monetary Fund or IMF slashed its global economic growth forecast up to 2020.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 14.17 points or 0.07 percent to 20,705.16, after rising to a high of 20,805.93 in early trades. Japanese shares eked out modest gains to hit over one-month high on Monday.
The major exporters are weak on a stronger safe-haven yen. Canon and Panasonic are down 0.2 percent each, Mitsubishi Electric is declining 0.4 percent and Sony is lower by 1 percent.
In the tech sector, Tokyo Electron is losing 0.5 percent, while Advantest is adding more than 1 percent.
Among the major automakers, Honda is rising 0.3 percent and Toyota is adding 0.2 percent. In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining 0.9 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing 0.3 percent.
In the oil space, Japan Petroleum is advancing more than 1 percent and Inpex is edging up 0.1 percent each.
Among the other major gainers, Marui Group is higher by more than 3 percent and FamilyMart UNY is rising more than 2 percent.
On the flip side, Chiyoda Corp., Yamaha Corp. and Sony Financial are all losing more than 2 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 109 yen-range on Tuesday.
Overnight, the U.S. stock markets were closed for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.
The European markets ended mostly lower on Monday after weak GDP data from China confirmed a slowdown in the world's second largest economy. Germany's DAX declined by 0.62 percent and France's CAC 40 ended lower by 0.17 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE edged up slightly.
Crude oil prices reversed early losses to edge higher on Monday. WTI crude oil futures for March rose $0.19 to $53.99 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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