TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market rose on Monday following the positive cues from Wall Street Friday amid optimism about U.S.-China trade talks as well as indications of more Chinese economic stimulus. However, the market has pared strong gains made early in the session.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 68.98 points or 0.32 percent to 21,519.83, after touching a high of 21,612.67 earlier. Japanese shares rose on Friday to end two days of declines.
The major exporters are mostly higher despite a slightly stronger yen. Mitsubishi Electric is adding 0.7 percent, Canon is up 0.4 percent, and Panasonic is edging up 0.1 percent, while Sony is down 0.4 percent.
In the tech sector, Tokyo Electron is rising almost 3 percent and Advantest is higher by more than 1 percent. Among the major automakers, Honda is lower by 0.5 percent, while Toyota is edging up 0.1 percent.
In the banking space, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is declining 0.3 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing 0.5 percent. In the oil sector, Inpex is lower by 0.8 percent and Japan Petroleum is down 0.3 percent after crude oil prices edged lower.
Among the other major gainers, Japan Steel Works is rising more than 3 percent, while Sumco Corp., Fujikura and Tokyo Electron are higher by almost 3 percent. On the flip side, Sumitomo Dainippon is declining almost 3 percent and Dentsu is down 2 percent.
On the economic front, the Ministry of Finance said that Japan posted a merchandise trade surplus of 339.002 billion yen in February. That exceeded expectations for a surplus of 305.1 billion yen following the 1.415 trillion yen deficit in January.
Exports were down 1.2 percent on year to 6.384 trillion yen, shy of forecasts for a fall of 0.6 percent following the 8.4 percent slide in the previous month. Imports tumbled an annual 6.7 percent to 6.045 trillion yen versus expectations for a fall of 6.4 percent following the 0.6 percent drop a month earlier.
Japan also will see final January data for industrial production today.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid 111 yen-range on Monday. On Wall Street, stocks closed higher on Friday, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reaching their best closing levels in five months, amid optimism about U.S.-China trade talks as well as indications of more Chinese economic stimulus. Traders largely shrugged off the release of some disappointing U.S. economic data, including a Federal Reserve report showing industrial production rose by much less than expected in the month of February.
The Dow climbed 138.93 points or 0.5 percent to 25,848.87, the Nasdaq advanced 57.62 points or 0.8 percent to 7,688.53 and the S&P 500 rose 14.00 points or 0.5 percent to 2,822.48.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on Friday. While the French CAC 40 Index surged up by 1 percent, the German DAX Index advanced by 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.6 percent.
Crude oil futures ended slightly lower on Friday, snapping a four-session winning streak, as traders chose to take profits. WTI crude oil futures for April ended down $0.09 or 0.2 percent at $58.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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