TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is notably higher on Tuesday despite the absence of fresh cues from Wall Street, which was closed overnight for a holiday. Investor sentiment was boosted after the Japanese government on Monday lifted a nationwide state of emergency over the coronarivus.
News that U.S. biotech firm Novavax has commenced the first human trial of its experimental coronavirus vaccine also boosted sentiment.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 392.92 points or 1.89 percent to 21,134.57, after touching a high of 21,159.56 earlier. Japanese shares posted strong gains on Monday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is rising more than 2 percent and Fast Retailing is gaining more than 4 percent.
The major exporters are mostly higher on a weaker yen. Panasonic is higher by almost 3 percent, Canon is advancing more than 1 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is adding almost 1 percent, while Sony is down 0.5 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest and Tokyo Electron are rising more than 1 percent each. Among automakers, Honda Motor is gaining almost 4 percent, and Toyota is rising 2 percent.
In the oil sector, Inpex is adding 0.6 percent and Japan Petroleum is up 0.3 percent.
Among the other major gainers, Japan Steel Works is gaining more than 11 percent and IHI Corp. is rising more than 6 percent. West Japan Railway and Alps Alpine are higher by more than 5 percent each.
On the flip side, Ajinomoto Co. is losing more than 3 percent, while Rakuten and Fujikura are lower by more than 2 perent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the upper 107 yen-range on Tuesday.
Overnight, the U.S. markets were closed for the Memorial Day holiday.
The major European markets ended on a strong note on Monday. Germany's DAX surged up 2.87 percent and France's CAC 40 climbed up 2.15 percent, while the U.K. market was closed for the Spring bank holiday.
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