U.S. stocks finally appear to be bottoming out, and the yen is coming back to reasonable levels for Japanese exporters. I'd say that's a pretty good signal to buy.
Selling looks thin and investors continue to cover their short positions.
I think we'll see a pickup in market activity in the afternoon, but for now market participants are reluctant to take positions ahead of Bush's address later in the morning.
Japan is entering the summer holiday season. Activity should be limited this week and next.
There's pretty much nobody home in the foreign brokerages now due to Christmas celebrations, and domestic institutional investors have no particular incentive to trade either.
Tech shares have taken a real hammering lately and were due for a rebound.
Nothing new came out of the G7 meeting. But the government is now keeping a closer eye on the stock market and investors are taking notice.