TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market is modestly higher on Tuesday following the record closing highs overnight on Wall Street after Moderna said data from a late-stage trial showed its coronavirus vaccine candidate was 94.5 percent effective in preventing infection.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 63.62 points or 0.25 percent to 25,970.55, after touching a high of 26,057.30 earlier. Japanese shares ended at a fresh 29-year high on Monday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is declining almost 1 percent, while Fast Retailing is rising more than 2 percent.
In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is advancing more than 1 percent and Advantest is up 0.6 percent.
The major exporters are mixed. Mitsubishi Electric is gaining more than 3 percent and Canon is advancing more than 1 percent, while Panasonic is declining more than 1 percent and Sony is down almost 1 percent.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is rising more than 2 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is advancing more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda and Toyota are declining almost 1 percent each.
Among the other major gainers, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is gaining more than 5 percent, while T&D Holdings and ANA Holdings are rising more than 4 percent each. East Japan Railway is higher by almost 4 percent.
Conversely, Trend Micro is losing more than 3 percent, while Japan Exchange Group and Chugai Pharmaceutical are lower by almost 3 percent each.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 104 yen-range on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed at record highs on Monday following more upbeat news on the coronavirus vaccine front, with Moderna reporting positive results from a trial of its vaccine candidate. Moderna said that the trial of its potential coronavirus vaccine has met the statistical criteria pre-specified in the study protocol for efficacy, with a vaccine efficacy of 94.5 percent.
The Dow surged up 470.63 points or 1.6 percent to 29,950.44, the Nasdaq climbed 94.84 points or 0.8 percent to 11,924.13 and the S&P 500 jumped 41.76 points or 1.2 percent to 3,626.92.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on Monday. While the German DAX Index rose by 0.5 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both surged up by 1.7 percent.
Crude oil prices surged higher on Monday as strong economic data from China and Japan and hopes about OPEC and allies continuing to curb output helped ease concerns about energy demand outlook. WTI crude for December delivery jumped $1.21 or about 3 percent to $41.34 a barrel.
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