Japanese stocks went into the lunch....>

JAPAN STOCKS: Japanese stocks went into the lunch break in positive territory

after spending most of the session lower after dipping on the open, which was

contributed to by the steel and cement sectors. Yesterday Japanese stocks

rebounded after tension eased between the US and North Korea, the Nikkei 225

currently up 3.46 points at 19756.77. 

- European stocks remained buoyed by the easing of the tension too although US

stocks were mostly unchanged as the dollar rallied, causing the Yen to drop

slightly but any upside was mitigated as USD/JPY stubbornly remains between

110-111. On the Nikkei 225 7 of 11 sectors are in the green, materials were up

0.60% on strong metals performance in the metals complex,  whilst real estate

was down 0.75%. Also down was the Yuan as the Peoples Bank of China set a weaker

daily fixing rate. Iron ore is up 6 points whilst oil rose 0.18% to 47.73.

- Other stocks in the region are mixed, ASX 200 down around 4 points despite

strength in iron ore and in line wage price index data and upward revision for

Q1. Mainland China is in the red, while the Hang Seng resumes its rally after

declines yesterday.