United States Total Net TIC Flows down to $-114B in December from previous $-3.2B

The Nikkei 225 posted a tepid advance on Tuesday, up by 31 points or 0.20% to close at 16,054.43. The leading sector during the Asian session was the banking one, led by the SoftBank Group Corp, which rose by 14% after announcing a share buyback, up to 500 billion yen to purchase as much as 14.2% of its own shares. The Japanese benchmark eased in after-hours trading, tracking oil prices in their way down, and poised to open the day around 15,900.