Japan Market gains on upbeat offshore lead

Headline shares of the Japan share market advanced on Tuesday, 23 July 2019, as investors risk sentiments underpinned by following gains on Wall Street overnight, with focus now shifting to corporate earnings announcements and series of macroeconomic data and events this week. Most of subsectors of the Topix's index inclined, with Marine transportation, oil and coal product, and metal product-linked issues being notable gainers. Around late afternoon, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average added 246.64 points, or 1.15%, to 21,663.43, while the broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 15.80 points, or 1.02%, at 1,572.17.

U.S. stock-market indexes closed higher Monday, as investors adjusted expectations around a widely anticipated rate cut by the Federal Reserve at the end of the month and began wading through a sea of corporate results after a strong start to earnings season. Investor optimism has been supported by a better-than-expected start to the Q2 EPS reporting season, as well as the ongoing possibility of a rate cut by the end of the month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 17.7 points, or 0.1%, at 27,171.9, while the S&P 500 index advanced 8.42 points, or 0.3%, to 2,985.03, supported largely by gains in the information-technology sector (up 1.2%). The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 57.65 points, or 0.7%, to trade at 8,204.14.

On the trade front, U.S.-China trade negotiations were in focus, after reports that the two sides would soon meet face-to-face, with reports that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin would travel to Beijing next week. U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to requests for timely licensing decisions from the Department of Commerce regarding Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, following a meeting with tech and telecommunications executives on Monday. That comes as Huawei, which relies on American suppliers for components and software in some of its products, remains on a Washington trade blacklist.

Tensions remain high in the Middle East following Iran's seizure of a British tanker last week, with oil prices seeing gains on Monday. In the afternoon of Asian trading hours on Tuesday, oil prices inched higher. The international benchmark Brent crude futures contract was 0.16% higher at $63.36 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures were fractionally higher at $56.25 per barrel.

This week, Canon, Nidec, and Nissan are among the companies that will announce earnings while there will be a series of macroeconomic data and events, including US GDP data due on Friday and the European Central Bank meeting on Thursday.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Japanese yen traded at 108.06 against the dollar after seeing an earlier high of 107.81.

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