TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is advancing on Tuesday and the safe-haven yen weakened following the overnight gains on Wall Street after U.S. President Donald Trump said that top Chinese officials had called asking for the resumption of trade talks. However, China has denied that any phone call between U.S. and Chinese officials had occurred.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is rising 224.80 points or 1.11 percent to 20,485.85, after touching a high of 20,513.55 earlier. Japanese shares hit three-week lows on Monday.
The major exporters are higher on a weaker yen. Canon is rising more than 1 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric and Panasonic are advancing almost 1 percent each and Sony is adding 0.6 percent.
In the auto sector, Honda Motor is higher by more than 1 percent and Toyota Motor is advancing almost 1 percent. In the tech space, Advantest is up 0.2 percent and Tokyo Electron is adding more than 1 percent.
Market heavyweight SoftBank is gaining more than 2 percent and Fast Retailing is rising almost 2 percent.
Among oil stocks, Inpex is up 1 percent, while Japan Petroleum is declining more than 1 percent after crude oil prices edged lower overnight.
Among the major gainers, Subaru Corp. is gaining more than 6 percent and Taiyo Yuden is rising almost 4 percent. Suzuki Motor, Yaskawa Electric and Showa Denko are higher by more than 3 percent each.
On the flip side, Sumitomo Metal Mining and Recruit Holdings are losing more than 1 percent each.
In economic news, the Bank of Japan said that producer prices in Japan were up 0.1 percent on month in July, in line with expectations following the 0.1 percent decline in June.
On a yearly basis, producer prices gained 0.5 percent - shy of expectations for an increase of 0.6 percent and down from 0.7 percent in the previous month.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 105 yen-range on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move to the upside after President Donald Trump continued to express optimism about a potential U.S.-China trade deal despite the ever-escalating trade war. Trump told reporters at the G-7 summit in France that top Chinese officials had called asking for the resumption of trade talks. However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he was not aware of any call between U.S. and Chinese officials and Trump refused to provide details.
The Dow jumped 269.93 points or 1.1 percent to 25,898.83, the Nasdaq soared 101.97 points or 1.3 percent to 7,853.74 and the S&P 500 surged up 31.27 points or 1.1 percent to 2,878.38.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on Monday, with the U.K. markets closed for a holiday. The German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.4 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.
Crude oil futures failed to hold early gains and settled lower on Monday, extending losses to a fourth consecutive session. WTI crude oil futures for October ended down $0.53, or about 1 percent, at $53.64 a barrel.
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