Japan’s Nikkei gave up most of its early gains and closed slightly higher

Japan’s Nikkei index gave up most of its early gains to close slightly higher on Tuesday, as investors sold strong-performing stocks to bargain hunters amid the absence of a clear catalyst.

The Nikkei ended the day’s trading, up 0.08 percent, at 27,445.56 points, after rising 0.6 percent. The broader Topix index rose 0.03 percent to 1,993.28 points.

US stocks recorded slight gains Monday night after last week’s losses, which were the largest percentage of the major indexes on Wall Street since the beginning of the year, amid continuing concerns about the next hike in interest rates to curb inflation.

Technology stocks led the Nikkei index higher after SoftBank Group rose 0.88% and Advanced Chipmaking Equipment rose 0.46%.

(M3) for online medical services rose 2.2 percent.

Japan Post Bank rose 1.73 percent after parent company Japan Post Holdings announced it would reduce its stake in the banking unit to less than 65 percent from the current 89 percent.

Japan Post Holdings fell 1.59 percent.

The real estate sector jumped 1.19 percent, becoming the best performer among the 33 sub-indices on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The freight sector was the worst performer, down 2.74 percent.