Japanese Stock Markets Edge Higher

Japanese stocks were trading slightly higher on Tuesday. The Nikkei 225 gained 0.03 percent, or 4.9 points to 17,677.50, and the TOPIX rose 0.22 percent, or 3.05 points to 1,403.05.

iShares MSCI Japan ETF (NYSEARCA: EWJ) rose 0.12 percent to close at $49.56, while iShares MSCI Pacific ex-Japan Idx (ETF) (NYSEARCA: EPP) dropped 0.27 percent to close at $40.59 on Monday.

Shares of Hokuetsu Kishu Paper (3865) tumbled over 7 percent after the company lowered its net profit outlook forecast for the year to 8 billion yen, versus its earlier forecast of 10 billion yen.

USD/JPY was trading at 108.04 yen on Tuesday.

West Texas Intermediate for December delivery rose 1.89 percent to trade at $44.77 per barrel on the NYMEX, while Brent for December settlement gained 1.67 percent to $45.17 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.

U.S. markets closed mixed overnight, with the Dow climbing 0.11 percent to 18,868.69, and the NASDAQ dropping 0.36 percent to 5,218.40.

Top market movers among the Japanese market are as follows:

• Shares of Sekido Co Ltd (9878) climbed around 32 percent to 104.0 JPY.
• Maruman & Co Ltd (7834) shares rose around 26 percent to 189.0 JPY.
• IMV Corp (7760) shares increased over 22 percent to 366.0 JPY.

• PhoenixBio Co Ltd (6190) shares dropped around 19 percent to 1,628.0 JPY.
• Dream Incubator Inc (4310) declined over 14 percent to 2,362.0 JPY.
• SK-Electronics Co Ltd (6677) shares fell 12 percent to 913.0 JPY.