Japanese Markets Gain; Earthquake Hits Japan

Japanese stocks were trading higher on Tuesday. A 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit off the Japan’s eastern coast. The Nikkei 225 climbed 0.20 percent, or 36.5 points to 18,142.50, and the TOPIX rose 0.18 percent, or 2.6 points to 1,445.52.

iShares MSCI Japan ETF EWJ rose 0.81 percent to close at $49.79, while iShares MSCI Pacific ex-Japan Idx (ETF) EPP gained 0.62 percent to close at $40.46 on Monday.

The U.S. dollar declined 0.1 percent against the Japanese yen to trade at 110.80 yen.

West Texas Intermediate for December delivery rose 1.02 percent to trade at $48.73 per barrel on the NYMEX, while Brent for December settlement gained 0.98 percent to $49.38 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.

U.S. markets closed higher overnight, with the Dow gaining 0.47 percent to 18,956.69, and the NASDAQ rising 0.89 percent to 5,368.86.

Top market movers among the Japanese market are as follows:

• Shares of Tokyo Theatres Co Inc (9633) climbed around 38 percent to 182.0 JPY.
• Shinden Hightex Corp (3131) shares rose around 23 percent to 1,602.0 JPY.
• Japan Third Party Co Ltd (2488) shares increased over 21 percent to 860.0 JPY.

• Kitac Corp (4707) shares dropped around 9 percent to 311.0 JPY.
• Azuma Shipping Co Ltd (9380) declined over 8 percent to 475.0 JPY.
• I-O Data Device Inc (6916) shares fell 8 percent to 1,314.0 JPY.